Recurrent abdominal pain in childhood. Relationship to psychological adjustment of children and families: a preliminary study.

The study investigated the prevalence of emotional and behavioural problems in children with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP), the sensitivity of RAP children to a painful stimulus, and the attitudes shown by RAP mothers to issues of health and illness. Three groups of children were compared including two groups with RAP, one in which an organic cause for the pain was found, and one where no organic cause was identified. The third group consisted of pain-free children from the general community. No consistent patterns of differences was identified between the groups on the measures used. Possible reasons for the findings are discussed and recommendations made for further research in this area.