A Linguistic Analysis of Future Perceptions of Parents of Adolescents With Complex Regional Pain Syndrome and Parents of Pain‐Free Peers

TL;DR

Parents of adolescents with chronic pain imagine a more negative future for their children compared to parents of pain-free adolescents.

Contribution

This study is the first to use linguistic analysis to compare future perceptions of parents of adolescents with and without chronic pain.

Findings

Parents of adolescents with CRPS used more negative emotion and anger words in their future descriptions.

Parents of pain-free adolescents used more certainty and friends-related language.

Adolescent age and gender influenced the use of family-related words in parental responses.

Abstract

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a chronic pain condition which typically affects a body extremity and occurs more frequently from the onset of adolescence. Parents of adolescents with chronic pain report uncertainty and fear concerning their adolescent's transition to adulthood. Nonetheless, little is known about how parents of adolescents with CRPS perceive their adolescent's future.

This study sought to explore the future perceptions of parents of adolescents with CRPS (n = 45) and compare their use of language with a sample of parents of adolescents without chronic pain (n = 50). All participants completed an online story completion task in which they described their imagined future for their adolescent (14–25 years). Responses were coded using a linguistic analysis programme and the significance of group differences was tested using inferential statistics.

Parents of adolescents with CRPS used significantly more negative emotion and anger words, and their responses had an overall lower emotional tone score (i.e., were more negative) than parents of pain‐free adolescents. Parents of pain‐free adolescents used significantly more certainty and friends words. Adolescent age and gender predicted a significant amount of variance in use of family words. No group differences were found for the remaining dimensions.

Key differences exist regarding expectations of their adolescent's future between parents of adolescents with and without chronic pain. Given the important contribution of parents to the pain experience of their adolescent, and the influence of parental expectations on future outcomes, interventions should target the future‐focused expectations of parents.

Parental expectations of their adolescent's future may be impacted by the presence of their adolescent's chronic pain condition. Our findings point to the importance of considering and targeting parental future perceptions in paediatric chronic pain interventions.