The physical and psychosocial predictors of Adolescents' recovery from oral surgery

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to expand medical models of recovery from surgery in adolescents. Sixty-seven adolescents undergoing third molar surgery and their parents participated. Adolescents' negative affectivity, expectancies about recovery, coping styles, and parents' anticipated encouragement of illness behavior were assessed preoperatively. Extent of surgery was assessed by the oral surgeon. Outcome measures included mouth opening, disability, and pain. Extent of surgery did not predict recovery. After controlling for extent of surgery, the psychosocial parameters accounted for an additional 19% of the variance in mouth opening and 21% of the variance in disability. Adolescents' expectancies about recovery and parents' anticipated "pampering" responses predicted mouth opening. Adolescents' expectancies predicted disability. Expectancies about recovery and parental encouragement of illness behavior add predictive power to models of adolescents' recovery from surgery. Limitations of the study, future research directions, and clinical implications are discussed.

Psychological intervention in acute dental pain: review

“…Hansson's study 17 had the advantage of a standardised surgical procedure but, in recording on an hourly basis, may have incorporated too many measures. Gidron's study 19 failed to control for analgesic consumption.…”

“…The results showed that women and younger patients reported more pain, and subjects of European descent reported less pain than those of Black American and Latino descent. Gidron et al 19 examined the physical and psychosocial predictors of adolescents' recovery from oral surgery. Sixty-seven adolescents undergoing surgical removal of third molars participated in the study and the results showed that psychological factors did not predict pain.…”

“…[16][17][18][19] Of these, three examined the predictive capacity of psychosocial factors on postoperative pain and recovery following surgical removal of third molars. One study found psychological factors, including postoperative anxiety, to predict postoperative pain.…”

“…16 Two further studies failed to show any such prediction. 17,19 This discrepancy is likely to be due in part to the differing measures taken. Only Feinmann et al 16 and Hansson et al 17 used a standard validated psychological measure (GHQ) and only the former study specifically measured anxiety.…”

Validation of a Measure of Protective Parent Responses to Children's Pain

“…[1][2][3] Similarly, the pediatric literature shows that increased attention from parents is associated with higher levels of pain complaints and disability in children with chronic pain [4][5][6][7] and delayed recovery by children undergoing painful oral surgery. 8 This research is grounded in social learning theory 9 and the findings have been interpreted as evidence that significant others may reinforce patients' pain behavior.Most research in this area uses self-report questionnaires to assess a significant other's typical behavior toward a patient with chronic pain. For example, a subscale of the Multidimensional Pain Inventory asks respondents to rate, on a scale ranging from "never" to "very frequently," how often the patient's spouse engages in solicitous behavior such as taking on the patient's chores.…”