Understanding the relationship between parenting style and chronic pain in adolescents: a structural equation modelling approach

Abstract

Background Although the context of parenting has been incorporated into psychosocial pain research, very little attention has been paid to how parenting styles influence chronic pain in adolescents. The present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of self-esteem, emotional intelligence, and psychological distress in the association between parenting styles and chronic pain. Method Seven hundred and thirty nine adolescents and their parents participated in this study. To identify adolescents with chronic pain, screening questions based on the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases were used. Baumrind parenting style questionnaire was used to assess the parenting style (permissive, authoritarian, and authoritative parenting styles). The structural equation modelling (SEM) was carried out in M-Plus version 6 to evaluate the direct, indirect, and total effects of different parenting styles on chronic pain. Results The results in the SEM models revealed that only the indirect paths from authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles to pain through emotional intelligence (βauthoritative = − 0.003, 95% CI = − 0.008 to − 0.003; βauthoritarian = 0.001, 95% CI = 0.001 to 0.003) and psychological distress (βauthoritative = − 0.010, 95% CI = − 0.021 to − 0.004; βauthoritarian = 0.008, 95% CI = 0.004 to 0.016) were significant. Indirect paths from permissive style to pain and the mediating role of self-esteem were not significant. Discussion Emotional intelligence and psychological distress significantly mediated the effects of authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles on chronic pain. The current results support the notion that interventions targeting effective parent–adolescent communication may be an important part of chronic pain management in adolescents. Moreover, the results provide rationale for targeting emotional intelligence and psychological distress in adolescents by explicitly teaching effective communication skills, expressing opinions and minds, and emotion regulation strategies.

The mediating role of maladaptive cognitive schemas regarding the relationship between parenting styles and chronic pain in adolescents: a structural equation modelling approach

“…In the end, 1302 people (Mean age: 16.87 ± 1.94) participated in the current study due to participant dropouts. Because of an insufficient power and sample size has consequences on statistical tests [ 48 ], power analysis for the correlation tests has conducted with G-Power analysis software (version 3.1.3) [ 49 ] in order to assure us that the size of the sample is adequate to detect a medium (0.30) effect size (q = 0.30) with a power of 0.95 (α = 0.05, 1 – β = 0.95) [ 27 , 50 ].…”

“…In supporting this model, Cunningham et al showed that child pain catastrophizing mediates the relationship between the parental factors such as parental encouragement and monitoring or parental protection with functional abdominal pain-related disability levels [ 32 ]. Similarly, in our recent study on a different sample of adolescents, it has been shown that emotional functioning (including emotional intelligence and psychological distress) significantly mediated the effects of authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles on chronic pain [ 27 ].…”

“…Although there is a growing body of evidence linking parenting styles to health outcomes, little emphasis has been dedicated to how parenting styles affect chronic pain in adolescents [ 43 ]. To our knowledge, only one original research has been published to investigate how parents raise their children affects chronic pain in adolescents [ 27 ].…”

“…Based on previous research in the context of Iran, it was assumed that the maladaptive schemas would mediate the relationship between parenting styles and chronic pain in adolescents. Because Iran is one of the countries where recent research has shown the advantage of authoritative over authoritarian parenting style, the postulated relationships were assumed to be significant for authoritative and authoritarian parenting styles, as shown in our earlier studies using different samples [ 10 , 27 ].…”

“…Many studies, including two recent studies in the Iranian context, have indicated that there is a positive relationship between the authoritative parenting style and children's physical health, while there is a negative relationship between the authoritarian and permissive parenting styles and children's physical health [ 10 , 23 – 27 ]. Natalucci et al in their narrative review, showed that some behaviors of parents, especially mothers, such as oppressive or overprotective behaviors have a strong relationship with the severity of headache attacks in their children [ 28 ].…”