Project description DEENESFRITPL Supporting parents to support children in cases of chronic pain Chronic pain in young patients affects not only the patients themselves but also their caregivers. Parents of children with chronic pain are more likely to suffer from stress, anxiety or depression as a result of seeing their child suffer. On the other hand, their response can be pivotal for their child’s pain-related functioning. The EU-funded PARENT_EMPATHY project is studying the neural mechanisms underlying parent empathic distress and its impact. The project includes a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study aiming to understand parent–child interactions in the context of paediatric pain and develop innovative parent-targeted treatments. Show the project objective Hide the project objective Objective Chronic pain affects the lives of over a quarter of adolescents world-wide. For a parent to see their child suffering is particularly distressing. Not surprisingly, parents of children with chronic pain are more likely to suffer from stress, anxiety, or depressive symptoms. Vice versa, parent responses can powerfully modulate (i.e. mitigate or magnify) their child’s pain-related functioning. A key, so far neglected, variable may be parent empathic distress, hindering the parents’ ability to respond in ways to promote the child’s functioning. The neural mechanisms underlying parent empathic distress and its impact have not been studied before and will be the main focus of this proposal. I hypothesize that parents’ empathic distress triggered by observing their child’s pain is of key importance for understanding parent-child interactions in the context of paediatric pain and that identifying the driving mechanisms will provide novel points for parent-targeted treatments.PARENT_EMPATHY is a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study and will recruit parent-child dyads in which the child has chronic pain via the Pediatric Pain Management Clinic at Stanford’s Children’s Health. Using an empathy paradigm, I will define the physiological and neural correlates of parent empathic distress in response to observing their own child’s pain (facial expressions combined with autobiographical vignettes). Further, I will examine the contribution of parent empathic distress to individual differences in parent pain-related behavior as well as in the child’s pain-related functioning.This MSCA will enable me to carry out my independent project with the Biobehavioral Pediatric Pain (BPP) lab at Stanford University, reinforcing my scientific maturity. Working in this inspiring and successful environment with ample opportunities to enjoy superb training programs will boost my professional, scientific and personal development, and will greatly enhance my career possibilities. Fields of science engineering and technologymedical engineeringdiagnostic imagingmagnetic resonance imaging Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2018 - Individual Fellowships Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2018 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-GF - Global Fellowships Coordinator UNIVERSITEIT MAASTRICHT Net EU contribution € 170 419,20 Address Minderbroedersberg 4 6200 MD Maastricht Netherlands See on map Region Zuid-Nederland Limburg (NL) Zuid-Limburg Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 Partners (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all Partner Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE LELAND STANFORD JUNIOR UNIVERSITY United States Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address Serra mall 450 94305 2004 Stanford See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 82 632,96
