ReviewBJA open2023
What is the association between childhood adversity and subsequent chronic pain in adulthood? A systematic review.
Review in BJA open, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 35 citations in OpenAlex.
- Psychosocial etiology and management of chronic pelvic pain in women: a systematic review.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Impact of adverse childhood experiences on analgesia-related outcomes: a systematic review.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Associations between PTSD symptom clusters and multi-region pain in young adults with chronic pain.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Clinical Instruments Assessing Harms and Benefits of Long-Term Opioid Therapy for Chronic Pain: A Scoping Review.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
- Improving Pain Literacy Among Future Educators: Contemporary Pain Neuroscience Education in Teacher Preparation.The Journal of school health · 2026Article
- Testing Associations Between Childhood Abuse and Health in Young Adults in the Deep South: The Mediating Role of Psychological Symptoms.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Impact of Childhood Trauma on Neuropsychological Disorders and Its Intergenerational Transmission Mechanisms.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The impact of adverse childhood experiences on cognitive behavioral interventions for chronic pain.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2026Article
- Associations Between Childhood Adversity and Pain in Breast Cancer Survivors.Biopsychosocial science and medicine · 2026Article
- Review
- Psychopathological Concomitants and Motivations Related to Misuse of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Paracetamol.Human psychopharmacology · 2026Article
- The greater the pleiotropic effects, the greater the benefits - cannabis as a "biopsychosocial" drug: a mixed-methods study on chronic non-cancer pain.Journal of cannabis research · 2026Article
- Article
- From Trauma to Suicidal Ideation in a Spanish Chronic Pain Population: Cognitive Mediation in the Genesis of Psychological Suffering.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Anterior insular co-activation patterns associated with stress markers in chronic primary pain.Brain communications · 2026Article
- The association between age at menarche and subsequent risk of chronic pain.Frontiers in global women's health · 2026Review
- Exploring syndemic vulnerability among adolescents living in urban cities in the Netherlands: a latent class analysis.BMJ public health · 2026Article
- Adverse childhood experiences and pain incidence and multisite trajectories among middle-aged and older Chinese adults.Pain reports · 2026Article
- Inflammatory reactivity is unrelated to childhood adversity or provoked modulation of nociception.Pain · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain are complex problems affecting millions of people worldwide, and result in significant healthcare utilisation. Our review aimed to determine known associations between adversity in childhood and chronic pain in adulthood. Methods: We performed a prospectively registered systematic review (PROSPERO ID: 135625). Six electronic databases (Pubmed, Medline, Cochrane, Scopus, APA PsycNet, Web of Science) were searched from January 1, 2009 until May 30, 2022. Titles and abstracts were screened, and all original research studies examining associations between adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain in adulthood were considered for inclusion. Full texts were reviewed, and a narrative synthesis was used to identify themes from extracted data. Ten percent of studies were dual reviewed to assess inter-rater reliability. Quality assessment of study methodology was undertaken using recognised tools. Results: Sixty-eight eligible studies describing 196 130 participants were included. Studies covered 15 different types of childhood adversity and 10 different chronic pain diagnoses. Dual reviewed papers had a Cohen's kappa reliability rating of 0.71. Most studies were of retrospective nature and of good quality. There were consistent associations between adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain in adulthood, with a 'dose'-dependent relationship. Poor mental health was found to mediate the detrimental connection between adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain. Conclusion: A strong association was found between adverse childhood experiences and chronic pain in adulthood. Adverse childhood experiences should be considered in patient assessment, and early intervention to prevent adverse childhood experiences may help reduce the genesis of chronic pain. Further research into assessment and interventions to address adverse childhood experiences is needed.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.