The journey of a young researcher in the 21st century

Submission to the NUIG Health Psychology blog on Caes' research interests

We shouldn’t worry so much about our kids’ anxiety – it’s a normal part of growing up

First paragraph: There’s been a big rise in the number of young people seeking help for their anxieties, according to Childline. The telephone counselling service has suggested exposure to social media reports on global issues such as Brexit and the war in Syria may be behind the 35% increase in the number of calls it receives from anxious children. Access this article on The Conversation website: https://theconversation.com/we-shouldnt-worry-so-much-about-our-kids-anxiety-its-a-normal-part-of-growing-up-6796

Commentary: Parent-child interactions during painful medical procedures: recommendations by Blount and colleagues (1991) have not fallen on deaf ears!

The article by Blount and colleagues (1991) has played a prominent role in laying the foundations for furthering our understanding of the role in of the social context in children’s pain experiences. Blount and colleagues (1991) demonstrated that adult’s responses to child pain differ depending on children’s level of coping behavior, with no differences observed for children’s responsiveness to parents versus staff behaviors. These findings as well as their rigorous methodological approach, substantially influenced research and clinical practice on the social context of pediatric pain experiences during medical procedures. The two main recommendations the authors made, i.e. systematic replication of their findings and the need for evidence-based training programs, did not fall on deaf ears and have received substantial research attention in the past 30 years. This commentary will focus on providing a summary of how the evidence base on parent-child interactions during painful procedures has evolved since this publication, with a focus on the inclusion of non-verbal behavior due to the availability of video recordings. This will be followed by a discussion on how this growing evidence base influenced the design and evaluation of pain management interventions for acute pediatric pain experience, ranging from localized interventions to wide-reaching social media initiative. The commentary will end with future directions for research and clinic practice within this field

Connecting the Mind-Body split: Understanding the relationship between symptoms and emotional well-being in Chronic Pain and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders

Paediatric chronic conditions, e.g. chronic pain and functional gastrointestinal disorders, are commonly diagnosed, with fatigue, pain and abdominal discomfort the most frequently reported symptoms across conditions. Regardless of whether symptoms are connected to an underlying medical diagnosis or not, they are often associated with an increased experience of psychological distress by both the ill child and their parents. While pain and embarrassing symptoms can induce increased distress, evidence is also accumulating in support of a reciprocal relationship between pain and distress. This reciprocal relationship is nicely illustrated in the fear avoidance model of pain, which has recently been found to be applicable to childhood pain experiences. The purpose of this article is to illustrate how mind (i.e. emotions) and body (i.e. physical symptoms) interact using chronic pain and gastrointestinal disorders as key examples. Despite the evidence for the connection between mind and body, the mind-body split is still a dominant position for families and health care systems, as evidenced by the artificial split between physical and mental health care. In a mission to overcome this gap, this article will conclude by providing tools on how the highlighted evidence can help to close this gap between mind and body

Supporting Children with Chronic Pain in School: Understanding Teachers’ Experiences of Pain in the Classroom

First paragraph: Chronic pain is a common experience for children with the median international prevalence rate ranging from 11% to 38% (King et al., 2011). Within an Irish context, approximately 10% of primary school children suffer from chronic pain (O’Higgins et al., 2015). Headache, abdominal and musculoskeletal pain are the most commonly reported types of paediatric chronic pain (King et al., 2011). However, children often report pain in multiple sites (Perquin, 2000). Children spend a majority of their waking hours in school and for those with chronic pain, attendance, academic achievement, peer relationships and their perceived competence in these domains can be negatively impacted by the experience of persistent pain (Dick & Riddell, 2010; Gorodzinsky, Hainsworth & Weisman, 2011)

Chronic pain: A poorly understood experience in young people.

Pain is a common experience in everyday life and part of our earliest experiences as babies and toddlers. Most pain that we experience does not last very long and is ‘helpful’, as it teaches us how to avoid situations that can cause us harm. However, not all pain is short term or helpful. Pain that is continuous or comes and goes for a minimum of three months is called chronic pain. Chronic pain is common in children and teenagers and can affect many areas of young people’s lives, such as sport, school, sleep, mental health, and friendships. Unfortunately, we do not understand this experience of chronic pain in young people, and how it affects their lives, very well at all. It’s really important that we develop a better understanding of how we can support young people with chronic pain and their families to live full lives.

Supporting primary school children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis: A qualitative investigation of teaching staff experiences

Background: Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) has a deleterious impact on numerous areas of children’s lives including school functioning. This study moves beyond eliciting child reports of school functioning to examine teaching staff’s experiences of supporting a child with JIA in school. Methods: Fifty-one UK based teaching staff with experience of supporting a child aged 7-11 years with JIA in school were recruited. Participants completed an online qualitative survey regarding their perceptions and experiences of supporting a child with JIA in school, with a sub-sample of 9 participants completing a subsequent telephone interview to explore responses in greater detail. Survey and interview data were analyzed using the conventional approach to qualitative content analysis. Results: Analyses generated 4 themes: (1) communicating, (2) flexing and adapting, (3) including and (4) learning and knowing. Findings highlighted the importance of clear communication between teaching staff and parents in addition to the need for teaching staff to provide individualized support for children with JIA which maximized their inclusion within the class. Conclusions: This paper provides new knowledge regarding how teaching staff adopt proactive and creative strategies to support children with JIA, often in the absence of ap-propriate training, identifying support needs and resources for teaching staff