Parental functioning in the context of adolescent chronic pain: a review of previously used measures

Objective To examine the use of instruments which assess the functioning of individuals who parent an adolescent with chronic pain. The study will focus on examining the population in which measures were developed, content, length, psychometric evaluation, and published use with this specific chronic pain population. Methods A systematic search of the literature identified 4,225 articles, generating a total of 73 eligible studies. Examination of these studies revealed the existence of 68 instruments. All measures underwent comprehensive content analysis. Results The majority of instruments were in the psychological (N = 32) or social domain (N = 25). Median frequency of usage was 1. While 27 instruments demonstrated evidence of psychometric evaluation in a sample of parents of adolescents with chronic pain, in 20 instances, this evaluation involved only assessment of internal consistency. Conclusions Clinically relevant psychometric data were missing for many instruments. Results identified a diversity of instrumentation with little consistency in instrument usage.