ABSTRACT

Complaints of recurrent pain, such as abdominal pain or headaches, affect as many as 30% of children and adolescents and are a frequent reason for referral to the pediatric clinic (McGrath, 1990). Advances in medical technology have increased the number of diagnostic procedures available to the pediatrician seeking a pathophysiological cause of recurrent pain in children. Typically, it is only when these medical diagnostic procedures fail to reveal an organic cause for the pain that an assessment of psychosocial factors is undertaken.