Communicating with Youth about Pain: Developmental Considerations

Background: Pain experiences can negatively impact children and adolescents, leading to trauma symptoms and nonadherence to important health behaviors. Developmentally-tailored communication strategies may mitigate this risk. Methods: This article reviews cognitive and linguistic developmental factors, within the familial and cultural context, that are important to consider when communicating with youth about acute, procedural, and/or chronic pain. Results: Youth undergoing acute or procedural pain benefit from pain education, truthful information about the procedure, and advance preparation. The use of analogies may be particularly helpful for patient understanding of chronic pain development, maintenance, and treatment. Youth with developmental disabilities may express pain differently than their normative peers, requiring adaptation of communication strategies. Conclusion: Developmentally-tailored pain communication is an important tool for caregivers and healthcare providers that may foster adaptive functioning in youth who experience pain.