Papers of the Week

Abdominal pain can be a debilitating symptom for youth with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). Across various pediatric conditions, pain predicts adverse physical and mental health outcomes. Understanding mechanisms by which pain impacts outcomes is of critical importance to enhance well-being of those with IBD. Pain catastrophizing mediates the aforementioned relationships in other pediatric populations, but little research has examined its role in pediatric IBD. Attention to the role of pain catastrophizing as a potential mediator in pediatric IBD is important given unique elements of the pain experience for this population. This study aimed to examine pain catastrophizing as a potential mediator of the relationship between abdominal pain and adverse outcomes in youth with IBD.