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OBJECTIVES Pediatric patients with chronic musculoskeletal conditions such as idiopathic scoliosis awaiting surgical correction can experience pain that interferes with their daily functioning. Reports of this interference are commonly gathered from patients through the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Interference Scale and through parent-proxy scores. However, the child and parent/caregiver reports vary. To provide appropriate treatment for young patients with pain, the nature of the discrepancies and under which circumstances the reports differ needs to be understood. This report offers new information on the level of concordance among parent and child report of pain interference within this patient population, and which parent and child characteristics may influence concordance rates. METHODS Youth (age=10 to 17 y) with a history of musculoskeletal disorders, including idiopathic scoliosis, under consideration for surgical correction of that scoliosis and parent/caregiver dyads (n=103) completed the PROMIS Pain Interference Scale during an orthopedic presurgical visit. The current data was taken from a larger study examining postsurgical pain among patients undergoing orthopedic surgical procedures to correct scoliosis. The purpose of the current study was to measure the degree of agreement between parent and child reports of pain interference and discovery of relationships among predictors of pain interference score correspondence among dyads. RESULTS Correspondence between parent/caregiver and child reports of pain interference was modest (intraclass correlation coefficient=0.530). In total, 46% of dyads had similar pain interference scores, whereas 24% of parents reported higher pain interference in comparison to their child, the remaining 30% reported lower pain interference in relation to their child's report. Among children where discrepancies appeared, using logistic regression models, only child catastrophizing scores were associated with differences in parent and child estimation of child's pain interference scores. No parental characteristics predicted discrepancies between dyad pain interference reports. DISCUSSION Parent-proxy and child reports generally correspond, but when discrepant, 24% of parents reported higher pain interference in relationship to the child report of pain interference and 31% noted less intense pain interference than their child's pain interference. Given these results, care should be taken when interpreting parent reports of child pain interference, especially when a child reports higher degrees of pain interference.

OBJECTIVES Persistent or recurrent pain is common among adolescents and is associated with poor functioning. The purpose of this study was to determine whether preteens who present with pain, and higher, co-occurring psychological and somatic symptoms (PSS) are at higher risk for persistent pain than other children. MATERIALS AND METHODS We conducted a secondary analysis of the longitudinal Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development database (version 2.0.1) that includes 11,863 children aged 9 to 12 years. We differentiated children into baseline Pain/PSS profiles using the Child Behavior Checklist assessments of pain, cognitive-fogginess, somatic symptoms, depression, and anxiety and the Sleep Disorder Survey-Children somnolence subscale. We examined whether Pain/PSS profile predicted 1-year new/persistent pain when controlled for child characteristics and intergenerational mental health factors. RESULTS Four profiles were differentiated: No Pain/Low PSS, No Pain/High PSS, Pain/Low PSS, Pain/High PSS. Trauma exposure and family symptoms were associated with increased odds of being in the higher PSS groups. Baseline symptom profile predicted 14% of the variance in new/persistent pain at 1-year. Compared with the No Pain/Low PSS group, an increased odds of 1-year new or persistent pain was found in children with No Pain/High PSS (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.44; [95% confidence interval: 1.14, 1.82]), Pain/Low PSS (adjusted OR: 4.69 [4.01, 5.48]) and Pain/High PSS (adjusted OR: 5.48 [4.35, 6.91]). DISCUSSION Preteen children with higher comorbid Pain/PSS symptomology were at higher risk for new or persistent pain at 1 year when controlled for important child and family characteristics. Findings support the importance of considering co-occurring symptoms when evaluating children with pain.

Background Pain location and widespread pain are important but underexamined dimensions of paediatric pain. Body map tools to assess pain location in youth have been used for several decades, but few studies have established reliability and validity of these measures. The purpose of this study was to explore the reliability and validity of a pain body map among youth with orthopaedic conditions before surgery. Method Youth ages 10-17 years completed the body map and other self-reported outcomes at their preoperative clinic visit and at their day of surgery. Results Most (91.7%) youth had small discrepancy between body map scores at preoperative clinic visit (baseline) and day of surgery (second assessment), and site-to-site agreement ranged from 78% to 98%. Those with back and lower extremity diagnoses had high correspondence between body map sites and diagnostic sites. Body map scores and widespread pain were associated with other dimensions of pain, as well as other patient-reported outcomes. Higher pain intensity and widespread pain predicted greater discrepancy between body map scores. Conclusions These results support the use of body map tools in further research examining widespread pain among youth by demonstrating adequate reliability, descriptive validity and associative validity. Significance These results contribute to the limited information regarding psychometric properties of paediatric pain body maps, provide novel information about widespread pain among youth undergoing orthopaedic surgeries, and pave the way for improved assessment and treatment of paediatric pain.

Background Symptom severity is negatively associated with physical activity in multiple sclerosis (MS). However, it is unclear how physical activity and symptoms correlate on a day-to-day basis in persons with MS. Purpose To determine the temporal within-person associations of pain, fatigue, depressed mood, and perceived cognitive function with physical activity in MS. Methods Ambulatory adults with MS (N = 107) completed 7 days of home monitoring. Continuous physical activity data (assessed via wrist-worn accelerometer) and concurrent ecological momentary assessment (5X/day) of pain, fatigue, depressed mood, and perceived cognitive function were collected. Data were analyzed using multilevel mixed modeling. Results Fatigue and depressed mood demonstrated bidirectional associations with physical activity, whereas pain and cognitive function did not. Higher than usual fatigue (B = -5.83, p = .001) and depressed mood (B = -4.12, p = .03) were followed by decreased physical activity. In contrast, higher than usual physical activity was associated with subsequent decline in fatigue (B = -0.001, p = .02) and depressed mood (B = -0.0007, p = .02); however, the association between physical activity and fatigue varied across the day. Conclusions Physical activity is dynamically related to fatigue and mood on a moment-to-moment basis in MS. Efforts to increase physical activity in MS must incorporate a focus on how symptoms affect and are affected by activity.

During the remaining Sessions 10–12 of the Children’s Health and Illness Recovery Program (CHIRP) no new skills or strategies are introduced. Rather, these sessions focus on continuing to practice the skills introduced in Sessions 1–9 so that they become positive habits and routines in the your and your family’s coping with their chronic illness while becoming more confident and competent in their movement toward more independence.

During the remaining Sessions 10–12 of the Children’s Health and Illness Recovery Program (CHIRP) no new skills or strategies are introduced. Rather these sessions focus on continuing to practice and consolidate the skills introduced in Sessions 1–9 and problem solve those areas where the teen and parent(s) continue to struggle.

Chapter 11 provides supplemental material for teens whose chronic illness challenges involve major problems with chronic pain. While pain is a necessary protective mechanism of the body, chronic pain involves complex interactions between the nervous system, the brain, our emotions, and various situational factors that can actually make our experience of pain worse. The activities in this session are intended to help teens better understand these interactions and apply pain management strategies. Many of the coping strategies in the Children’s Health and Illness Recovery Program (CHIRP) have been shown to be effective in helping teens manage chronic pain more effectively so that they are able to more actively participate in the multiple areas so important to development.

Session 1 of the Children’s Health and Illness Recovery Program (CHIRP) addresses the impact of illness- and non–illness-related stressors on teens with chronic illness and coping strategies needed to reduce stress. This chapter provides the clinician with techniques for guiding the teen in developing methods for identifying stressors and assessing the impact they may have on their symptoms and functioning. The importance of sleep and developing healthy sleep hygiene practices are introduced, along with instructions for the teen in completing a Sleep Log to assess their own sleep patterns and practices. Graduated physical activity is also assessed and encouraged. These data will be collected over the course of several sessions in order to facilitate more effective coping, stress management, and sleep hygiene practices.

Being a teenager with a chronic illness can be challenging. The symptoms of an illness, particularly pain and fatigue, can interfere with just being a normal teen. The Children’s Health and Illness Recovery Program, or CHIRP, was developed to teach teens and their family strategies to help them live as normal a life as possible while coping with the effects of their chronic illness. The skills acquired in the CHIRP intervention are life skills almost every teen can use, and these skills can be especially valuable for those working to overcome the negative effects of chronic illness. The CHIRP Teen and Family Workbook provides evidence-based activities shown to improve coping skills, stress management, communication skills, and functioning in teens with chronic medical conditions. In addition, family-based activities included in CHIRP assist teens and parents in developing more effective ways to communicate about their illness and increase teen confidence and independence in both managing their illness and their lifestyle. These skills are important building blocks to help teens move toward recovery and improve functioning and quality of life as they approach young adulthood. The skills acquired in the program also serve as a guide and motivation for continuing the gains that teens and their families make in CHIRP.

Youth chronic pain management presents unique challenges to the pediatric psychologist in both inpatient and outpatient settings. This chapter includes specific and practical guidance for working with youth and their families/caregivers presenting to an inpatient setting for treatment of chronic pain. Conceptualization of pediatric chronic pain from a biopsychosocial framework informs the chapter which includes guidance in specific domains to consider within an initial assessment. Practical advice is provided regarding communicating with families about taking a rehabilitative treatment approach in such a way as to increase readiness for treatment of their child’s chronic pain upon discharge from the hospital. The chapter gives clinical pearls for psychologists to make valuable contributions to multidisciplinary treatment teams which seek to incorporate psychological information relevant to the child’s treatment within the hospital setting. Finally, information is offered for referring and coordinating care for patients upon discharge when they have ongoing pain needs including school reentry, effective non-pharmacologic treatment, and prioritizing mental health needs that co-occur with patient’s pain symptoms.

A central concern raised by many patients attending a pediatric chronic pain interdisciplinary clinic is physical functioning decline, fatigue, and diminished endurance. However, most studies examining treatment effects of pain programs on physical outcomes have relied on self- and/or parent-reported measures without confirming the results using objective indices, and predictors of objective indices of physical function in this population have rarely been examined. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate changes in objective physical functioning and to investigate psychosocial predictors of physical functioning over time in a sample of pediatric patients who completed an intensive outpatient pain program (IOP). Participants (N=55; Mage=14.92 years; 12.7% male, 87.3% female; 83.6% White, 5.6% African-American/Black; 9.1% Latinx) completed baseline measures assessing pain levels (Brief Pain Inventory), anxiety/depressive symptoms (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), pain catastrophizing (Coping Strategies Questionnaire), and kinesiophobia (Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia). Participants completed the FitKids Treadmill Test ("FitKids") assessing physical endurance and the high-level mobility assessment tool (HiMAT) assessing physical ability pre- and post-IOP completion. Paired samples t-tests indicated significant improvement in Total Time to Exhaustion (TTE) on FitKids (p .138). Participation in an IOP led to significant improvement in physical endurance and ability. Depressive symptoms were negatively associated with endurance at baseline but not after program completion. Depressive symptoms may influence pre-treatment objective physical endurance and should be assessed in pediatric chronic pain patients beginning rehabilitation.

There is growing evidence that opioid prescribing in the United States follows a pattern in which patients who are at the highest risk of adverse outcomes from opioids are more likely to receive long-term opioid therapy. These patients include, in particular, those with substance use disorders (SUDs) and other psychiatric conditions. This study examined health insurance claims among 10,311,961 patients who filled prescriptions for opioids. Specifically, we evaluated how opioid receipt differed among patients with and without a wide range of preexisting psychiatric and behavioral conditions (ie, opioid and nonopioid SUDs, suicide attempts or other self-injury, motor vehicle crashes, and depressive, anxiety, and sleep disorders) and psychoactive medications (ie, antidepressants, benzodiazepines, hypnotics, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, and medications used for SUD, tobacco cessation, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder). Relative to those without, patients with all assessed psychiatric conditions and medications had modestly greater odds of subsequently filling prescriptions for opioids and, in particular, substantially greater risk of long-term opioid receipt. Increases in risk for long-term opioid receipt in adjusted Cox regressions ranged from approximately 1.5-fold for prior attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder medication prescriptions (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.53; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.48-1.58) to approximately 3-fold for prior nonopioid SUD diagnoses (HR = 3.15; 95% CI, 3.06-3.24) and nearly 9-fold for prior opioid use disorder diagnoses (HR = 8.70; 95% CI, 8.20-9.24). In sum, we found evidence of greater opioid receipt among commercially insured patients with a breadth of psychiatric conditions. Future studies assessing behavioral outcomes associated with opioid prescribing should consider preexisting psychiatric conditions.

Chronic pain is prevalent in children/adolescents and contributes to high rates of healthcare utilization. Research suggests injustice perceptions about pain are important in adult patients and a possible treatment focus. We conducted a preliminary evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Injustice Experiences Questionnaire (IEQ) and the relationship between injustice perceptions, pain, and functioning in chronic pain patients (N = 139, mean age = 15 years, 72% female) presenting to a pediatric pain clinic. Patients completed measures assessing pain intensity, injustice perceptions about pain, catastrophizing, overall functional disability, emotional functioning, social functioning, and school functioning. The IEQ showed good reliability and validity. Higher levels of perceived injustice were associated with higher levels of pain intensity, catastrophizing, and functional disability, and with poorer emotional, social, and school functioning. Additionally, perceived injustice remained significantly associated with pain intensity, functional disability, emotional functioning, social functioning, and school functioning after accounting for relevant demographic and clinical factors. This is the first study to suggest that injustice perceptions are important in the experience of pediatric chronic pain patients. Future studies should more thoroughly examine the psychometric properties of the IEQ in children/adolescents and elucidate the causal nature of these relationships, which will inform treatment efforts to improve pediatric pain care. Perspective This initial investigation suggests that injustice perceptions about pain can be reliably and validly measured and are tied to important clinical outcomes in children/adolescents. Future studies that replicate and extend these preliminary results are necessary to determine the extent to which injustice perceptions are an important target for intervention.

Objective To examine mental health diagnoses, healthcare use, and receipt of age-appropriate preventive care, including antibiotic prophylaxis, hydroxyurea therapy, and transcranial Doppler screenings, among children with sickle cell anemia (SCA). Study design Children aged 1-17 years with SCA from 6 states having 3 or more Medicaid claims with a SCA diagnosis within a year (2005-2012) were included. Children with mental health diagnoses were identified with 1 or more mental health encounters. Poisson and logistic regression models with general estimating equations assessed the relationship between mental health diagnoses, healthcare use, and receipt of age-appropriate preventive care. Results In total, 7963 children with SCA were identified (22 424 person-years); 1593 person-years (7.1%) included 1 or more mental health diagnoses. Children with a mental health diagnosis were more likely to have inpatient admissions (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.46, 95% CI 1.36-1.56) and outpatient (IRR 1.27, 95% CI 1.21-1.34), emergency department (IRR 1.39, 95% CI 1.30-1.48), and well-child visits (IRR 1.19, 95% CI 1.11-1.29). Those with a mental health diagnosis were more likely to receive hydroxyurea therapy (odds ration [OR] 1.17, 95% CI 1.03-1.33) and less likely to receive transcranial Doppler screenings (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.68-0.93). Conclusions Children with SCA do not receive adequate age-appropriate preventive care. Further research is necessary to identify key points of coordination between mental health and SCA services throughout the life course. This approach may help to increase receipt of age-appropriate preventive care and decrease reliance on acute care.

Background The past several decades have seen dramatic growth in empirically supported treatments for adolescent substance use disorders (SUDs), yet even the most well-established approaches struggle to produce large or long-lasting improvements. These difficulties may stem, in part, from the high rates of comorbidity between SUDs and other psychiatric disorders. Method We critically reviewed the treatment outcome literature for adolescents with co-occurring SUDs and internalizing disorders. Results Our review identified components of existing treatments that might be included in an integrated, evidence-based approach to the treatment of SUDs and internalizing disorders. An effective program may involve careful assessment, inclusion of parents or guardians, and tailoring of interventions via a modular strategy. Conclusions The existing literature guides the development of a conceptual evidence-based, modular treatment model targeting adolescents with co-occurring internalizing and SUDs. With empirical study, such a model may better address treatment outcomes for both disorder types in adolescents.

Objective To examine the relative association between daily change in pain, fatigue, depressed mood, and cognitive function and 4 outcomes—positive affect and well-being, ability to participate in social roles and activities, upper extremity (UE) functioning, and lower extremity (LE) functioning. Design Data analysis, multilevel mixed modeling. Setting General community. Participants Ambulatory adults (N=102) with multiple sclerosis. Interventions Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures Customized short-forms of the Quality of Life in Neurological Disorders positive affect and well-being, UE functioning, and LE functioning item banks and the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System ability to participate in social roles and activities item bank adapted for daily use and administered as end-of-day diaries. Results Above and beyond the effects of demographic and clinical covariates, daily pain was associated with 3 of the 4 outcomes; days of higher than usual pain were related to lower same-day social participation (unstandardized β, B=−1.00; P =.002), UE functioning (B=−1.04; P =.01), and LE functioning (B=−.71; P =.04). Daily fatigue and depressed mood were independently related to daily positive affect and well-being; days of worse fatigue (B=−.54; P =.006) and depressed mood (B=−1.17; P Conclusions The results indicate the role of fluctuations in symptoms in daily functioning and quality of life of individuals with multiple sclerosis. Daily increases in pain intensity are related to social and physical functioning, whereas increases in fatigue and depressed mood are related to lower daily well-being. Findings implicate a person-centered approach to monitoring and treating symptoms.

Pediatric surgeries and postoperative pain interventions with opioids pose risks for functional recovery and analgesic dependence. Prehabilitation, optimizing of physical functioning prior to surgery, is a possibly efficacious intervention with minimal adverse effects not yet assessed among children. Little is known about typical physical activity patterns of children undergoing orthopedic surgeries, or whether measurement with commercial accelerometry is feasible. This pilot study aimed to determine the feasibility of actigraphy assessment in children undergoing posterior spinal fusion (PSF) and assess the variability of their pre-operative activity. Children and adolescents undergoing PSF (n=15) wore a Fitbit Flex for approximately two weeks between their preoperative clinic appointment and surgery date, with no instructed change to activity level. Daily step counts were obtained from the Fitbit account for each participant. Of 15 participants, two dropped out (surgery or postoperative visit canceled). Overall, 73% of data was obtained from the pre-surgical period. The median number of data points per day was 11 [IQR:4-13]. The median average steps per day was 5,423 [IQR:4222-8060], the median maximum was 11,513 [IQR:6862-16142] and the median difference between highest and lowest step counts was 10,680 [IQR:4,886-15,662]. Four participants had consistently lower counts, defined as ≥50% of the recorded day total th percentile of the population average (4,222 steps). No participants had consistently higher counts preoperatively, defined as ≥50% of the recorded day total >75 th percentile of the population average (8,060 steps). Results demonstrate that assessing children's physical activity preoperatively is feasible and provides a description of the typical patterns of physical activity among children undergoing posterior spinal fusion. These findings support the possibility for implementation of prehabilitation in children. Prehabilitation can help prevent poor post-surgical outcomes among adults undergoing orthopedic surgeries and holds promise for possible preventative intervention for children to reduce risks associated with surgeries and opioid use.

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to describe strategies for recruiting participants into an intervention study that focused on improving problem-solving skills in caregivers of children with mental health problems. BACKGROUND Caregivers of children with mental health problems report feeling physically and psychologically overwhelmed and have high rates of depression because of the demands of caregiving. Research on the needs of these caregivers and interventions to ameliorate their stress is needed. However, recruiting this population can be particularly difficult because of the stigma of mental illness. Available literature on recruitment of caregivers of persons with physical illness cannot be transferred to caregivers of children with mental health problems because of the different caregiving situations. There is a need to identify effective recruitment strategies to reduce cost and answer research questions. Clinical nurse specialists have the skills to facilitate the recruitment of research participants. We revised and expanded health system referrals, community outreach, and recruiting advertisement (ads). When these strategies did not increase recruitment, radio ads were used. The Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization was selected as a guiding framework. OUTCOME Radio ads were the most effective strategy for recruiting caregivers of children with mental health problems for this study. CONCLUSION Recruitment was ultimately successful because we were flexible and made decisions consistent with the Andersen's Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization. IMPLICATIONS Clinical nurse specialists who study this population of caregivers should really consider the use of radio ads and systematically track which recruitment strategies lead to the greatest number of participants screened, eligible, and enrolled into studies.

This paper highlights clinical challenges faced when diagnosing and then treating an individual presenting to a child and adolescent psychiatry clinic because of unwelcome comments he made to female peers about their feet. Novel use of exposure therapy helped him effectively decrease his comments from 1 to 2 times per month to once every 6 months. Conceptualizing this case as the individual's failed attempts toward relationships with females instead of sexual harassment led to diminution of problematic behavior. Implications for diagnosis and treatment of individuals with Autistic Disorder displaying problematic behaviors are presented.

As primary caregivers of children with mental health problems, mothers face challenges that put them at risk for depression, which is rarely identified or addressed. The aims of this paper were to (a) identify mean differences among demographic, stressor, threat, and resource variables specified in a theoretical model and thought to be associated with maternal depressive symptoms and (b) determine how much variability in depressive symptoms is explained by these variables. High levels and prevalence of depressive symptoms were found within a quality of life study that these data were drawn from. Of 139 mothers participating in this study, 58% had a score of 16 or greater on the CES-D indicating moderate to high levels of depressive symptoms. Significant differences were found between mothers with higher versus lower levels of depressive symptoms for 11 of the 18 variables. Hierarchical regression was used to examine the variance explained in depressive symptoms based upon the conceptual model with 4 composite variables. Income (step 1), behavioral problems (step 2), threat appraisal (step 3), and resource appraisal (step 4) combined explained 42% of the variance.

Importance Adults with mental health conditions are more likely than those without to receive long-term opioid therapy. Less is known about opioid therapy among adolescents, especially those with mental health conditions. Objective To examine associations between preexisting mental health conditions and treatments and initiation of any opioid and long-term opioid therapy among adolescents. Design, Setting, and Participants A cohort of 1 224 520 incident opioid recipients without cancer diagnoses aged 14 to 18 years at first receipt was extracted from nationwide commercial health care claims data from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2014. Analysis was conducted from August 19, 2016, to November 16, 2017. Associations between preexisting mental health conditions and treatments and any opioid receipt were examined by comparing recipients with nonrecipients matched on sex, calendar year and years of age of first enrollment, and months of enrollment (prior to the index month for recipients, ever for nonrecipients). Associations between preexisting mental health conditions and treatments and subsequent long-term opioid therapy were examined among recipients with at least 6 months’ follow-up using Cox proportional hazards regressions adjusted for demographics. Exposures Mental health condition diagnoses and treatments recorded in inpatient, outpatient, and filled-prescription claims prior to opioid receipt. Main Outcomes and Measures Opioid receipt, defined as any opioid analgesic prescription claim, and long-term opioid therapy, defined as more than 90 days’ supply within a 6-month window having no gaps in supply of more than 32 days. Results Of the 1 224 520 new opioid recipients included, the median age at first receipt was 17 years (interquartile range, 16-18 years), and 51.1% were female. Median follow-up after first receipt was 625 days (interquartile range, 255-1268 days). Adolescents with anxiety, mood, neurodevelopmental, sleep, and nonopioid substance use disorders and most mental health treatments were significantly more likely to receive any opioid (odds ratios from 1.13 [95% CI, 1.10-1.16] for nonopioid substance use disorders to 1.69 [95% CI, 1.58-1.81] for nonbenzodiazepine hypnotics). Among the 1 000 453 opioid recipients (81.7%) who had at least 6 months’ follow-up, the cumulative incidence of long-term opioid therapy was 3.0 (95% CI, 2.8-3.1) per 1000 recipients within 3 years after first opioid receipt. All preexisting mental health conditions and treatments were strongly associated with higher rates of long-term opioid therapy (adjusted hazard ratios from 1.73 [95% CI 1.54-1.95] for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder to 8.90 [95% CI, 5.85-13.54] for opioid use disorder). Conclusions and Relevance Commercially insured adolescents with many types of preexisting mental health conditions and treatments were modestly more likely to receive any opioid and were substantially more likely to subsequently transition to long-term opioid therapy relative to those without, although overall rates of long-term opioid therapy were low.

Summary Purpose: To determine if the clinical characteristics of nonepileptic seizures (NES) are different in children younger than 13 years age as compared to adolescents. Methods: Retrospective review of medical records and video-EEGs (VEEG) of all patients with NES confirmed on VEEG monitoring was performed. Results: Sixty-eight (3.5%) of 1,967 patients monitored with VEEG had a clinical diagnosis of NES. Fifty-nine of 68 patients had their habitual event recorded. Mean age at the time of the VEEG diagnosis was 13 years 4 months. Twenty-two patients were less than 13 years (group A) and 37 were 13 years and older (group B). The male to female ratio was equal in group A, with female predominance seen in group B. NES commonly manifested as subtle motor activity in group A (p < 0.01) and prominent motor activity in group B (p < 0.001). Difficulties at school, family discord, and interpersonal conflicts, were frequent stressors in both groups. Sexual abuse was the least frequent. Depression was more common in group B; cognitive dysfunction (p < 0.001) and epilepsy (p < 0.01) were more common in group A. Conclusions: Differences in clinical semiology and predisposing factors may help identify young children and adolescents who might be at risk for the development of NES.

Depression, pain catastrophizing, and anxiety commonly co-occur with chronic pain. However, the degree to which improvement in these psychological comorbidities predicts subsequent pain outcomes and, in particular, the relative effects of these 3 psychological factors with respect to each other is only partially known. Longitudinal analysis of 250 primary care patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain enrolled in the Stepped Care to Optimize Pain care Effectiveness (SCOPE) trial was examined, using data gathered at baseline, and at 3 and 12 months. Mixed effects model repeated measures analyses were used to determine if changes in depression, pain catastrophizing, and anxiety predicted a subsequent reduction in pain intensity or interference and pain-related disability. Defining a clinically significant change as twice the standard error of measurement for each predictor, we found that a 2-standard error of measurement improvement in depression, pain catastrophizing, and anxiety resulted in, respectively, an effect size decrease in pain intensity or interference of .45, .33, and .12; a 14%, 12%, and 6% reduction in the number of pain-specific disability days; and a 43%, 30%, and 28% decreased likelihood of high disability (defined as ≥10 pain-specific disability days in the past 4 weeks). In summary, improvements in 3 common psychological comorbidities predicted better pain outcomes. Perspective Because depression, pain catastrophizing, and anxiety commonly accompany chronic pain and might adversely affect pain outcomes, treatment of these modifiable psychological factors is warranted to optimize the effectiveness of pain-specific therapies.

The prevalence and severity of depressive symptoms among 155 primary caregivers of children with mental health problems were examined along with variables that mediated or moderated the association of child behavior problems with caregivers' depressive symptoms. Forty percent of participants scored 22 or higher on the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale, indicating that they might have a serious depression. Perceived personal control, subjective distress, and role disruption mediated the association between internalizing child behavior problems and depressive symptoms. Tangible social support moderated the association between internalizing behavior problems and depressive symptoms. Intangible social support moderated the association between externalizing behavior problems and depressive symptoms.

This study investigated the clinical utility of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) with psychtatric inpatients Specific questions addressed were possible ceiling effects in the SWBS for this population and the SWBS's factor structure Statistical analysis on archival data from 141 female and 61 male (N = 202) patients suggested a lack of significan ceiling effects in the SWBS with this poputation. Factor analysis, using Direct Obliman rotation, evidenced three factor solution for this sample. Psychometric issues and clinica, utility of the SWBS with this population are discussed.