The Psychosocial Assessment Tool (PAT) is a promising tool for screening psychosocial risk that could potentially facilitate identification of psychosocial treatment needs among youth with recurrent headache at risk for poor outcomes, a new study found. Youth with recurrent migraine or tension-type headache completed the PAT and validated measures of adolescent emotional and behavioral functioning, parent emotional functioning, and family functioning at baseline (n=239) and 6-month follow-up (n=221). Researchers found:
- Internal consistency for the PAT total score was strong ( α = .88).
- At baseline, the PAT total score was significantly associated in the expected direction with established measures of child emotional and behavioral functioning, parent anxiety and depressive symptoms, and family functioning.
- Predictive validity was demonstrated by a significant association between the PAT total scores at baseline with child emotional and behavioral functioning, parent anxiety, parent depression, and family functioning at 6-month follow-up.
Law EF, et al. Screening family and psychosocial risk in pediatric migraine and tension-type headache: Validation of the Psychosocial Assessment Tool (PAT). [Published online ahead of print July 18, 2019]. Headache. doi: 10.1111/head.13599.