Kissi Ama, Carey Sean, Debeer Dries, Van Ryckeghem Dimitri M L, Hirsh Adam, Vervoort Tine
Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Department of Psychology, Indiana University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
Front Psychiatry. 2025 Jul 1;16:1579144. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1579144. eCollection 2025.
Research highlights racialized inequities in pain and pain care, yet the experiences of youth-particularly in Europe-remain largely understudied. The current study addressed this gap by examining differences in perceived racialized discrimination in pain care and pain outcomes (i.e., pain intensity over the past two weeks and six months, pain frequency over the past six months, and pain tolerance) among Black/Brown and White youth in Belgium. Additionally, we explored whether perceived racialized discrimination mediated the relationship between racialized identity and pain outcomes.
Seventy-six youth (52 girls, 17 boys, 2 non-binary individuals) aged 8-17 ( = 15.17; = 2.48) completed a cold pressor task to assess pain tolerance. Participants also reported their experiences of racialized discrimination in pain care, their pain intensity over the past two weeks and six months, and their pain frequency over the past six months.
Results indicated that Black/Brown youth reported greater perceived racialized discrimination in pain care and demonstrated lower pain tolerance than White youth. No significant group differences were observed for the other three pain outcomes. Perceived racialized discrimination in pain care only mediated the relationship between racialized identity and pain intensity over the past two weeks.
These findings suggest that racialized disparities in pain and pain care exist among youth living in Belgium. However, given the relatively small sample size, the results should be interpreted with caution. Additional research on racialized disparities in pain and pain care among youth using larger and more diverse samples is warranted.
研究突出了疼痛及疼痛护理方面的种族化不平等现象，但青少年的经历，尤其是欧洲青少年的经历，在很大程度上仍未得到充分研究。本研究通过考察比利时黑人和/或棕色人种青少年与白人青少年在疼痛护理中感知到的种族化歧视以及疼痛结果（即过去两周和六个月的疼痛强度、过去六个月的疼痛频率和疼痛耐受力）方面的差异，填补了这一空白。此外，我们还探究了感知到的种族化歧视是否介导了种族化身份与疼痛结果之间的关系。
76名年龄在8至17岁（平均年龄 = 15.17岁；标准差 = 2.48）的青少年（52名女孩、17名男孩、2名非二元性别个体）完成了一项冷加压任务以评估疼痛耐受力。参与者还报告了他们在疼痛护理中遭受种族化歧视的经历、过去两周和六个月的疼痛强度以及过去六个月的疼痛频率。
结果表明，黑人和/或棕色人种青少年报告称在疼痛护理中感受到了更大程度的种族化歧视，且疼痛耐受力低于白人青少年。在其他三项疼痛结果方面未观察到显著的组间差异。在疼痛护理中感知到的种族化歧视仅介导了种族化身份与过去两周疼痛强度之间关系。
这些发现表明，居住在比利时的青少年中存在疼痛及疼痛护理方面的种族化差异。然而，鉴于样本量相对较小，对结果的解释应谨慎。有必要使用更大且更多样化的样本，对青少年疼痛及疼痛护理方面的种族化差异进行更多研究。
