The ‘Work of Childhood’: Understanding School Functioning in Youth with Chronic Pain

Abstract

School is often cited as the ‘work of childhood’ and serves as an important site for child and adolescent development. Frequent school absences in children and adolescents with chronic pain are well documented; however, variables that may explain school impairment are not understood. The potential consequences of school impairment are extensive, as these children and adolescents are at great risk for achieving poor grades and sometimes require full-time homebound instruction. This, in turn, can have adverse effects on occupational and social functioning well into adulthood. The present review provides a summary of selected studies that have investigated why children and adolescents with chronic pain may experience disruptions in school functioning. A conceptual model of school functioning is presented to summarize factors accumulated to date and to guide future investigations.

Keywords::

• adolescents
• children
• chronic and recurrent pain
• functional disability
• pediatric
• school functioning
• school impairment

Financial & competing interests disclosure

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

No writing assistance was utilized in the production of this manuscript.