Accepted for/Published in: JMIR Research Protocols
Date Submitted: Mar 19, 2024
Open Peer Review Period: Mar 20, 2024 - May 15, 2024
Date Accepted: Nov 12, 2024
(closed for review but you can still tweet)
Trajectories of Change, Illness Understanding, and Parental Worries in Children and Adolescents Undergoing Internet-Delivered Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Functional Abdominal Pain Disorders: Study Protocol
ABSTRACT
Background:
Functional abdominal pain disorders (FAPDs) are common in young people and are characterized by persistent or recurrent abdominal symptoms without apparent structural or biochemical abnormalities. FAPDs are associated with diminished quality of life, school absence, increased health care use, and co-morbid anxiety and depression. Exposure-based internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT) has demonstrated efficacy in alleviating abdominal symptoms and improving quality of life. However, a deeper understanding of effect mechanisms and identification of possible additional treatment targets could refine treatment.
Objective:
This protocol paper describes a study focusing on children and adolescents undergoing ICBT for FAPDs, aiming to further investigate the underlying mechanisms of effect.
Methods:
Children (8-12 years), adolescents (13-17 years) with FAPDs and their respective parents will be included for 10 weeks ICBT. First, detailed trajectories of effect are examined through a randomized single-case design study involving six children and six adolescents (sub-study 1). Following this, an open-ended explorative pilot study with 30 children and 30 adolescents explores potential illness-related cognitive biases and interoceptive accuracy before and after treatment (sub-study 2). Finally, spanning across these two sub-studies including all parents from sub-study 1 and 2, we will assess parental distress and illness worries before and after treatment, and how these factors impact the treatment adherence and outcomes of the child or adolescent (sub-study 3).
Results:
Recruitment of participants began in June 2022, and is finalized for sub-study 1 and ongoing for sub-study 2 and 3. Recruitment is expected to be completed by January 2025, with final data collection during spring 2025.
Conclusions:
The findings have the potential to contribute to the ongoing improvement of specialized psychological treatment for FAPDs in young people Clinical Trial: Clinicaltrials.gov (NCT05237882 and NCT05486585) and OSF: https://osf.io/c49k7
Citation
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Copyright
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