The first objective of this work is to evaluate the social, emotional, and behavioral quality of life of children with juvenile primary fibromyalgia syndrome (JPFS) and explore potential mechanisms. The second objective of this work is to evaluate parental distress, family functioning, and child rearing practices. It is hypothesized that the social and emotional status in children with JPFS plays an important role in predicting eventual functioning and the quality of life they obtain. To determine which medical and psychological variables are involved, a cross sectional study of peer relationships, emotional well-being, and family functioning is required. Peer relations play a central role in children?s social and emotional development and are fundamental for the development of adequate social skills and for the emergence of a healthy self-concept. Although a growing body of empirical evidence has shown peer perceptions of social competence are predictive both of current adjustment and of future adaptations through adulthood, no data are available on the peer relationships of adolescents with JPFS. Clinically, parents often voice concerns that their teens with JPFS are socially withdrawn, miss many days of school, and are rejected by peers. Additionally, minimal data are available focusing on the emotional well being of adolescents with JPFS. Finally, we could locate no controlled studies focusing on parent distress, family functioning, or child rearing concerns. The proposed research will compare measures of (a) peer relationships, (b) emotional well-being, and (c) parental well-being, family functioning, and child rearing practices of 60 adolescents with JPFS and their parents to data obtained from 60 case control adolescents and their parents. Case controls are classmates of the adolescent with JPFS who are closest in date of birth, same race/gender, and do not have a chronic illness. Our previous work with this strategy during the past 10 years has shown we can recruit better than 80% of our first choice case control comparison families. This approach provides us with comparison families with similar social and demographic profiles. Our measurement strategy evaluates key domains with psychometrically sound and developmentally appropriate measures from multiple perspectives using diverse response formats. Information gained will identify psychological and medical variables associated with positive and negative outcomes. The research will identify whether adolescents with JPFS are at risk for less optimal quality of life thereby allowing effective psychosocial interventions to be developed.
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