Background: Pediatric chronic pain not only affects the child but also has a ripple effect on the entire family.While several studies have shown that acupuncture is beneficial for decreasing pain intensity in adults, few studies have examined the effectiveness of acupuncture in children and adolescence as well as the impact of acupuncture on the association between parent stress and child pain.Objective: This study examined whether two acupuncture treatments may help reduce child pain and parent stress as well as examining the bidirectional relationship between parent stress and child pain across the two treatments. Design: The study was a pre/post test design. Participants completed the Pediatric Inventory for Parents and Faces Pain Scale-Revised at baseline and at the conclusion of the second acupuncture treatment (at Time 2). Setting: Participants were recruited from a pain clinic at an academic pediatric hospital. Patients: Parent-child dyads (N = 29; M age = 14.13; standard deviation = 2.43) participated in the study. Results: Child pain and parent stress significantly decreased after two acupuncture treatments. Child pain significantly predicted parent stress frequency, difficulty, and stress frequency, while parent stress difficulty significantly predicted child pain at baseline. At T2, there was a bidirectional relationship between parent stress frequency, difficulty and child pain. Conclusions: These findings suggest that acupuncture is beneficial for reducing child pain and parent stress. The results also emphasize the bidirectional relationship between parent stress frequency and the child's perception of pain.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.