Stress, pain, and mood in adolescents with sickle cell disease

Abstract

A sample of 15 adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD) completed a 28 day daily telephone interview diary which assessed the intensity and duration of sickle cell pain episodes as well as daily occurrence of microstressors and negative mood. Both between subject and within subject correlational analyses were conducted to test for relationships among these variables. For one adolescent, within subject analyses revealed statistically significant correlations between stress and pain and between negative mood and pain. For six participants, stress and negative mood were significantly correlated. Between subject analyses revealed a significant association between stress and negative mood, as well as a significant association between pain and negative mood. Secondary analyses provided evidence for group associations between reports of stress and mood. Specifically, adolescents who experienced at least one pain episode reported significantly greater mean stress and negative mood scores than adolescents with no pain.