When things get complicated: At-risk attachment in children and adolescents with chronic pain

Abstract

Pain is a signal of danger, and danger activates the attachment system. When a parent responds to a child’s pain with appropriate protection and comfort, more often than not, the pain resolves. But what happens in families when a child’s pain becomes chronic and continues to signal a danger that has long passed? This study explored patterns of attachment in 48 children and adolescents with chronic functional pain and 48 healthy controls using structured attachment interviews. Patterns of attachment were identified using the Dynamic Maturational Model of Attachment. Compared to controls, children and adolescents with chronic functional pain were classified into at-risk patterns of attachment (χ² = 76.4, df = 2, p < .001) and had higher rates of unresolved loss and trauma (χ² = 10.8, df = 1, p = .001), suggesting a long-standing history of relational stress and the disruption of nurturing relationships. The findings suggest that the quality of attachment relationships contribute to the development and maintenance of chronic functional pain. Ongoing anxiety within the attachment relationship, combined with unresolved loss and trauma, may function much like catastrophising, contributing to chronic functional pain by activating the body’s arousal systems. The assessment process for chronic functional pain should include a family assessment to identify ruptures in attachment relationships, as well as unresolved loss and trauma events that need to be addressed through family interventions or individual therapy.