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Family Factors Related to Disability in Adolescents
With Headaches
T. Palermo, J. Putnam, T. Koch
Posted: September 2005  
Journal of Pain, Vol. 6, March 2005

Headaches are common in adolescents, and often interfere with their daily lives. Although increased family problems have been reported in adolescents with headaches, limited research has been conducted to link family factors to functional outcomes such as disability. This has hindered the development and testing of family-based interventions for chronic headaches.

Preliminary findings suggest that family factors and depression are strongly linked to headache-related disability in adolescents. Further analyses will examine parent-teen interactions to determine the effect of autonomy and intimacy in family interactions on adolescent functional disability.