Badly behaved children experience more pain as adults

10th March 2010 - Children who are bullies, disobedient and prone to bunking off school are more likely to suffer chronic pain when they grow up, according to a study.

Researchers say their investigation found the same is true for any sort of behavioural problems, including stealing, lying and worrying, or children who are anti-social and restless.

The team from the University of Aberdeen and UCL’s Institute of Child Health in London say children with severe behavioural problems are at approximately double the risk of chronic widespread pain by the time they are 45 than children without such problems.

What is chronic widespread pain?

Chronic Widespread Pain (CWP) is a commons complain that affects quality of life. It occurs in about 12% of the adult population and frequently causes disability.

It is more likely to occur among people aged between 50 and 60 and is more common in women than in men. People who develop the condition are usually referred to a rheumatologist.

The study

The researchers analysed data collected from a group of 18,558 children who were born in one week in 1958 (the 1958 British Birth Cohort). Those taking part were tracked at various stages through their childhood, teens and into middle age.

The children were independently assessed by parents and teachers for a number of characteristics, including whether they were prone to restlessness, worrying, solitariness, ability to make friends, obedience, stealing, lying, bullying, truanting, sucking thumbs and biting nails.

When they were aged 42 they were asked to complete a questionnaire asking about psychological distress in later life. When they were aged 45 they completed another questionnaire about pain.

What did the team find?

The researchers found that those whose teachers had reported severe persistent behaviour
problems when they were aged seven, 11 and 16 had more than double the risk of CWP in adulthood
compared with children without behaviour problems at all ages.

Those with severe behaviour problems at the ages of 11 and 16 had nearly double the risk of CWP in later life.

CWP was slightly more common in women than in men (12.9% versus 11.7%).

Lead author, Dr Dong Pang, an epidemiologist at the University of Aberdeen, says in a statement accompanying the research: "We know already that severe adverse events in childhood such as
hospitalisation after a road traffic accident and separation from mothers are linked to CWP in adulthood. In addition, aspects of childhood behaviour are strongly related to children reporting CWP.

“However, until now, it was unknown whether maladjusted behaviour in children was a long-term marker for CWP in adulthood. Our study shows that it is.”

More research to involve children

Pang says an early breakdown in the interaction between the nervous system and hormones may explain the link. The team could find no other reason to explain it.

Pang emails us to say more research is needed. “Our study is still in early stage. We are not entirely sure why there is the link between childhood behaviour and chronic widespread pain in adulthood,” he says.

Professor Gary Macfarlane, the leader of the research group, says they are planning further tests involving children to see what sort of situations affect the way the body responds to stress.

Pang has one bit of advice for anyone worried about a child’s behaviour. “It is not a bad idea to see GPs for medical advice”, he says.

The study appears in the journal Rheumatology.