Background: Youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at risk for recurrent pain and depressive symptoms, both of which contribute to poorer health outcomes. Furthermore, youth and family coping with child pain, including pain catastrophizing, is known to be associated with poorer psychosocial adjustment and greater functional disability among youth with SCD. In particular, child catastrophizing about pain and parent catastrophizing about their child's pain have been linked to increased pain and depressive symptoms in youth with chronic pain conditions. Despite this, the impact of child and parent pain catastrophizing on depressive symptoms remains unexplored in pediatric SCD. Procedure: The current study evaluated the predictive value of child and parent pain catastrophizing on child depressive symptoms in a sample of 100 youth with SCD. Differences in child and parent pain catastrophizing across youth with and without clinically elevated depressive symptoms were also examined. Results: Pain frequency and parent and child pain catastrophizing accounted for 35.9% of variance in child depressive symptoms, with only pain frequency and parent pain catastrophizing emerging as unique predictors of clinically elevated depressive symptoms. Additionally, parents of youth with clinically elevated depressive symptoms showed increased helplessness relative to parents of youth with minimal to mild depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Findings support the value of depression screening and interventions to promote parent self-efficacy in managing childhood SCD pain.

Objective. Adolescents with juvenile-onset fibromyalgia (JFM) have increased rates of psychiatric disorders, but to our knowledge no studies have examined psychiatric disorders in adolescents with JFM when they enter young adulthood. This study examined the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in young adults diagnosed with JFM during adolescence and the relationship between mental health diagnoses and physical functioning. Methods. Ninety-one young adults (mean age 21.60, SD 1.96) with a history of JFM being followed as part of a prospective longitudinal study and 30 matched healthy controls (mean age 21.57, SD 1.55) completed a structured interview of psychiatric diagnoses and a self-report measure of physical impairment. Results. Young adults with a history of JFM were more likely to have current and lifetime histories of anxiety disorders (70.3% and 76.9%, respectively) compared with controls (33.3% for both, both p < 0.001). Individuals with JFM were also more likely to have current and lifetime histories of major mood disorders (29.7% and 76.9%, respectively) compared with controls (10% and 40%, p < 0.05). The presence of a current major mood disorder was significantly related to impairment in physical functioning [F (1, 89) = 8.30, p < 0.01] and role limitations attributable to a physical condition [F (1, 89) = 7.09, p < 0.01]. Conclusion. Psychiatric disorders are prevalent in young adulthood for individuals with a history of JFM, and a current major mood disorder is associated with greater physical impairment. Greater attention to early identification and treatment of mood disorders in patients with JFM is warranted.

Background: Adolescents with juvenile fibromyalgia (JFM) tend to be very sedentary and avoid participation in physical activity. A prior study suggested that JFM patients show altered biomechanics compared to healthy adolescents which may make them more prone to pain/injury during exercise. A new intervention combining well established cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques with specialized neuromuscular exercise -Fibromyalgia Integrative Training for Teens (FIT Teens) was developed and shown to be promising in improving functioning in adolescents with JFM. In contrast to traditional exercise programs such as aerobic or resistance training, neuromuscular training is a tailored approach which targets gait, posture, balance and movement mechanics which form the foundation for safe exercise participation with reduced risk for injury or pain (and hence more tolerable by JFM patients). The aim of this pilot feasibility study was to establish whether objective biomechanical assessment including sophisticated 3-D motion analysis would be useful in measuring improvements in strength, balance, gait, and functional performance after participation in the 8-week FIT Teens program. Methods: Eleven female participants with JFM (ages 12-18 years) completed pre- and post-treatment assessments of biomechanics, including walking gait analysis, lower extremity strength assessment, functional performance, and dynamic postural stability. Results: Descriptive data indicated that mechanics of walking gait and functional performance appeared to improve after treatment. Hip abduction strength and dynamic postural control also demonstrated improvements bilaterally. Conclusions: Overall, the results of this pilot study offer initial evidence for the utility of biomechanical assessment to objectively demonstrate observable changes in biomechanical performance after an integrated training intervention for youth with JFM. If replicated in larger controlled studies, findings would suggest that through the FIT Teens intervention, adolescents with JFM can progress towards normalized strength and biomechanics, which may enhance their ability to engage in physical exercise.

Objective: Standardized pain assessment and interventions are recommended for youth hospitalized for pain. This quality improvement project integrated into a pediatric psychology service aimed to increase the standardized assessment of pain-related functional ability for youth with sickle cell disease (SCD) hospitalized for pain. Method: Children and adolescents (n = 102) with SCD referred for psychology consultation for poor coping in response to pain during hospitalization completed a validated self-report of functional ability in addition to pain intensity during inpatient psychology visits. At the time of the quality initiative, routine and standardized assessment of pain-related functional ability was not integrated into standard clinical care. Plan-do-study-act cycles determined the feasibility and addressed common barriers of routine assessment and documentation of pain-related functional ability among youth with SCD during inpatient psychology visits with the primary goal to increase assessment of functional ability to at least 85% among patients with SCD referred for pediatric psychology consultation to address pain management within 1 year. Results: Through iterative plan-do-study-act cycles, routine assessment of pain-related functional ability during psychology visits increased to an average of 93% over the course of 12 months. Routine, standardized assessment of functional ability was considered feasible within a pediatric psychology service. Conclusions/Lessons Learned: This project supported the feasibility of integrating standardized assessment of functional ability to enhance pain assessment for youth hospitalized for SCD pain as part of routine clinical care in a multidisciplinary setting regardless of psychology referral.

The primary objective of this study was to estimate a clinically significant and quantifiable change in functional disability to identify treatment responders in a clinical trial of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) for youth with juvenile fibromyalgia (JFM). The second objective was to examine whether baseline functional disability (Functional Disability Inventory), pain intensity, depressive symptoms (Children's Depression Inventory), coping self-efficacy (Pain Coping Questionnaire), and parental pain history predicted treatment response in disability at 6-month follow-up. Participants were 100 adolescents (11-18 years of age) with JFM enrolled in a recently published clinical trial comparing CBT to a fibromyalgia education (FE) intervention. Patients were identified as achieving a clinically significant change in disability (ie, were considered treatment responders) if they achieved both a reliable magnitude of change (estimated as a ≥7.8-point reduction on the FDI) using the Reliable Change Index, and a reduction in FDI disability grade based on established clinical reference points. Using this rigorous standard, 40% of patients who received CBT (20 of 50) were identified as treatment responders, compared to 28% who received FE (14 of 50). For CBT, patients with greater initial disability and higher coping efficacy were significantly more likely to achieve a clinically significant improvement in functioning. Pain intensity, depressive symptoms, and parent pain history did not significantly predict treatment response. Estimating clinically significant change for outcome measures in behavioral trials sets a high bar but is a potentially valuable approach to improve the quality of clinical trials, to enhance interpretability of treatment effects, and to challenge researchers to develop more potent and tailored interventions.