Cited by 23Psychosomatic Disorders and Their TreatmentsPediatric Pain Management TechniquesGastrointestinal motility and disorders

Attachment and Adjustment in Adolescents and Young Adults With a History of Pediatric Functional Abdominal Pain

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Laird, Kelsey T., Preacher, Kristopher J., Walker, Lynn S.·2015·The Clinical Journal of Pain

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study tested predictions of the Attachment-Diathesis Model (ADM) of Chronic Pain in a cross-sectional sample of adolescents and young adults with a history of childhood functional abdominal pain (FAP). ADM posits that attachment anxiety is a diathesis for poor adjustment (physical health, mental health, and functioning) in the context of chronic pain and that pain self-efficacy, pain threat appraisal, and passive coping mediate this effect. METHODS: Participants (N=261) were recruited from a database of consecutive new patients evaluated for abdominal pain at a pediatric gastroenterology clinic. Participants' mean age at the follow-up assessment was 21 years. Structural equation modeling was used to test the fit of our conceptual model to the data. RESULTS: Model fit was good (comparative fit index=0.971, the Tucker-Lewis index=0.940, root mean square error of approximation=0.067). Attachment anxiety significantly predicted poorer health in both the mental and physical domains. Model fit was consistent with our hypothesis that pain self-efficacy mediates the effect of attachment anxiety on passive coping and that passive coping, in turn, mediates the effect of pain self-efficacy and pain threat appraisal on mental and physical health. DISCUSSION: Among individuals with a childhood history of FAP, those with anxious attachment may be at higher risk for poor physical and mental health. Pain beliefs and coping may mediate the relation between anxious attachment and health outcomes and may serve as effective targets for intervention in chronic pain.

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  • Anxiety is positively correlated with pain sensitivity in males but not in females.

    “several studies have shown that anxiety is positively correlated with pain sensitivity among males, but not females 211, 212”
  • Increased emotional awareness and coping self-efficacy may be two mechanisms by which secure attachment decreases stress reactivity.

    “Research suggests that increased emotional awareness24 and coping self-efficacy25,26 may be two mechanisms by which secure attachment decreases stress reactivity.”

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  1. [21]Meredith PJ Strong J Feeney JA The relationship of adult attachment to emotion, catastrophizing, control, threshold and tolerance, in experimentally-induced pain Pain 1 2006 120 1–2 44 52 16359795

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Authors
Laird, K. T., Preacher, K. J., & Walker, L. S.
Affiliations
Vanderbilt University (US)
Venue
The Clinical Journal of Pain
Published
2015-02
Volume
31
Issue
2
Pages
152-158
ISSN
0749-8047 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2053022101
Cited by
23
References
74
Citations by year
2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2023: 1 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 1
FWCI
1.77
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Clinical Journal of Pain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
Funders
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (DK058404, P30DK058404)
  • National Center for Research Resources (UL1RR024975)
  • Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P30HD015052, R01HD023264)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pediatric Pain Management Techniques
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
Keywords
functional abdominal pain, attachment anxiety, chronic pain, adolescents, young adults, pain self-efficacy, passive coping, mental health, physical health, adjustment, pain beliefs
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Anxiety, Attitude to Health, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Individuality, Male, Models, Psychological, Parent-Child Relations, Surveys and Questionnaires, Abdominal Pain, Self Efficacy, Young Adult

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