Research Article: Illness-Promoting Psychological Processes in Children and Adolescents with Functional Neurological Disorder
Abstract:
Previous studies suggest that subjective distress in children with functional neurological disorder (FND) is associated with stress-system dysregulation and modulates aberrant changes in neural networks. The current study documents illness-promoting psychological processes in 76 children with FND (60 girls and 16 boys, aged 10.00?17.08 years) admitted to the Mind–Body Program. The children completed a comprehensive family assessment and self-report measures, and they worked with the clinical team to identify psychological processes during their inpatient admission. A total of 47 healthy controls (35 girls and 12 boys, aged 8.58–17.92 years) also completed self-report measures, but were not assessed for illness-promoting psychological processes. Children with FND (vs. controls) reported higher levels of subjective distress (total DASS score, t(104.24) = 12.18; p ? 0.001) and more adverse childhood experiences across their lifespans (total ELSQ score, t(88.57) = 9.38; p ? 0.001). Illness-promoting psychological processes were identified in all children with FND. Most common were the following: chronic worries about schoolwork, friendships, or parental wellbeing (n = 64; 84.2%); attention to symptoms (n = 61; 80.3%); feeling sad (n = 58; 76.3%); experiencing a low sense of control (helplessness) in relation to symptoms (n = 44; 57.9%); pushing difficult thoughts out of mind (n = 44; 57.9%); self-critical rumination (n = 42; 55.3%); negative/catastrophic-symptom expectations (n = 40; 52.6%); avoidance of activities (n = 38; 50%); intrusive thoughts/feelings/memories associated with adverse events (n = 38, 50%); and pushing difficult feelings out of mind (n = 37; 48.7%). In children with FND—disabled enough to be admitted for inpatient treatment—illness-promoting psychological processes are part of the clinical presentation. They contribute to the child’s ongoing sense of subjective distress, and if not addressed can maintain the illness process. A range of clinical interventions used to address illness-promoting psychological processes are discussed, along with illustrative vignettes.
Introduction:
Functional neurological disorder (FND) is a mind–body disorder involving aberrant changes within neural (brain) networks as well as complex interactions between brain, mind, body, and context—the lived experience of the child and the family. Children (including adolescents) with FND present with a broad range of functional neurological symptoms (see Figure 1). In the hospital setting, presentations with FND are common [1,2,3,4]. During the last few decades, children in our society have become more stressed in the…
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