Youth and Parent Appraisals of Participation in a Study of Spontaneous and Induced Pediatric Clinical Pain

The current study examined youths’ and their parents’ perceptions concerning participation in an investigation of spontaneous and induced pain during recovery from laparoscopic appendectomy. Youth (age range = 5–17 years) and their parents independently completed surveys about their study participation. On a scale from 0 (very negative) to 10 (very positive), both parents (M = 9.4, SD = 1.3) and youth (M = 7.9, SD = 2.4) rated their experience as positive. Among youth, experience ratings did not differ by pain severity and survey responses did not differ by age. Most youth (83%) reported that they would tell another youth to participate. Ethical issues regarding instigation of pain in youth for research purposes are examined.