Highlights
- •Factor analysis supports a 17-item PPFQ with four subscales.
- •Subscale structure and performance was comparable across mothers and fathers.
- •PPFQ total and subscales correlate with adolescent physical and emotional functioning.
Abstract
Parental responses to their child's pain are associated with the young person's functioning.
Psychological flexibility—defined as the capacity to persist with or change behavior,
depending on one's values and the current situation, while recognizing cognitive and
noncognitive influences on behavior—may provide a basis for further investigating
the role of these responses. The Parent Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (PPFQ)
is a promising but preliminary measure of this construct. Parents of 332 young people
with pain (301 mothers, 99 fathers, 68 dyads) completed the PPFQ during appointments
in a pediatric pain clinic. Initial item screening eliminated 6 of the 31 items. Mothers'
and fathers' data were then subjected to separate principal components analyses with
oblique rotation, resulting in a 4-factor solution including 17 items, with subscales
suggesting Values-Based Action, Pain Acceptance, Emotional Acceptance, and Pain Willingness.
The PPFQ correlated significantly with adolescent-rated pain acceptance, functional
disability, and depression. Differences were observed between mothers' and fathers'
PPFQ scores, in particular, those related to school absence and fears of physical
injury. The 17-item PPFQ appears reasonable for research and clinical use and may
potentially identify areas for intervention with parents of young people with chronic
pain.
Perspective
Parent psychological flexibility, as measured by the PPFQ, appears relevant to functioning,
depression, and pain acceptance in adolescents with chronic pain. This model may help
tie parental responses to adolescent distress and disability and may help clarify
the development and maintenance of disability within the context of chronic pain.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 11, 2014
Accepted:
November 26,
2014
Received in revised form:
October 29,
2014
Received:
June 12,
2014
Footnotes
The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose. The authors received no funding for this manuscript.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
