Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Vol. 27, No. 3, 2002, pp. 293-301
© 2002 Society of Pediatric Psychology
The Impact of Maternal Behavior on Children's Pain Experiences: An Experimental Analysis
1 University of British Columbia, 2 British Columbia's Children's Hospital
All correspondence should be sent to Christine Chambers, Centre for Community Child Health Research, 4480 Oak St., L408, Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3V4 Canada. E-mail: cchambers{at}cw.bc.ca .
Objective: To provide an experimental investigation of the impact of maternal behavior on children's pain experiences.
Method: Participants were 120 healthy children (60 boys, 60 girls) between the ages of 8 and 12 years and their mothers. Mothers were randomly assigned and trained to interact with their children in one of three ways while the children were exposed to lab-induced cold pressor pain: (1) a pain-promoting interaction, (2) a pain-reducing interaction, and (3) a no training control group. Training was based on behaviors presumed to have the expected impact, as based on correlational studies reported in the literature. Children's pain experiences during the cold pressor were assessed using self-reports of intensity and affect, coding of facial activity, tolerance, and heart rate responsiveness.
Results: Girls whose mothers interacted with them in the pain-promoting manner reported more pain than daughters of mothers in the control group, who in turn reported more pain than girls whose mothers interacted with them in the pain-reducing manner. This effect was not significant for boys. Maternal interaction type had no effect on children's pain affect, facial activity, tolerance, or heart rate.
Conclusions: Results indicate that maternal behavior can have a direct impact on their daughters' subjective reports of pain. These data support the importance of social learning factors in influencing children's pain experiences.
Key words: children; pain; maternal influences; family factors; social learning.
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