Managing Childhood Abdominal Pain

Functional Abdominal Pain (FAP) affects 10 to 15% of children and has significant social, emotional, and financial costs, but no known organic cause and no accepted medical or behavioral treatment. The researchers have conducted studies that provide support for a theoretical model in which cognitive-behavioral and social learning processes (modeling and/or potentially reinforcing responses by parents) may contribute to the maintenance of illness behaviors and functional disability in children with FAP. The researchers subsequently tested a social learning and cognitive-behavioral intervention for parent-child dyads which focused on changing these parent behaviors as well as teaching coping skills to children. Results support the effectiveness of the intervention and the explanatory value of the theory, demonstrating that parental change is a key element in reducing children's symptoms. The proposed study will build on these findings by evaluating a parent-only intervention. Furthermore, our experience and that of other investigators indicates that alternative intervention models are needed for wider accessibility to the intervention for families in need. While a parent-only format is expected to increase accessibility, we will also evaluate the use of a remote telephone intervention.

Inclusion criteria

• The child is 7 to 12 years old
• The child experienced at least three episodes of unexplained abdominal pain over a three month period which affected the child's activities
• The child lived with the primary caregiver for at least the last 3 months
• The child and the parent agree to the conditions of study participation, including randomization, participation in intervention and follow-up evaluations
• The parent and child comprehend and speak English without assistance

Exclusion criteria

• The child has positive physical or laboratory findings which would explain the abdominal pain
• The child has a chronic disease (e.g. Crohn's, ulcerative colitis, pancreatitis, diabetes, epilepsy, etc.)
• The child is lactose intolerant
• The child had major surgery in the past year
• The parent or child has developmental disabilities that require full-time special education or that impair ability to respond to assessment measures