Parental Catastrophizing and Goal Pursuit in the Context of Child Chronic Pain: A Daily Diary Study

Background: Despite daily variability in children's chronic pain experiences, little is known about how parents' emotions and goals toward their child's are influenced by these changes. This diary study examined child intensity (as perceived parents) moderates the associations between parental catastrophic thoughts on one hand, distress with regard to (pain control vs. activity engagement) other hand. Method: Participants were 25 parents of 20 different children (N = 18; 90% girls). Children, aged 8–14 years ( M 9.5, SD 2.09), experienced either headache or functional abdominal an average duration 22.5 months 24.5 months). Daily responses (i.e., intensity, goal endorsement) collected through a 3-week (resulting 413 valid reports). Parents completed Pain Catastrophizing Scale for prior starting (PCS-P general) measure daily) included diary. To account interdependence data, data analyzed using multilevel modeling. Results: Perceived moderated impact general distress. Only experiencing low increase was observed days when they as high. For all parents, high levels related more where reported thinking PCS-P daily). also endorsement goals. lower focus be low. engagement Conclusion: These findings highlight complexity fluctuations regarding pain. Clinical implications future directions critically assessed.