Exploring academic achievement and relevant risk factors among a community sample of adolescents with chronic pain compared to peers.

Objective: To compare adolescents in the United Kingdom with chronic pain with their peers in relation to psychological and behavioral outcomes (i.e., mental health, bullying, substance use) and academic achievement.

Methods: Participants were adolescents with chronic pain (n = 856) and peers without chronic pain (n = 3,093) from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) who attended a research clinic in the United Kingdom at 17 years and completed data collection at multiple timepoints. Chi-square and t-tests were used to explore group differences across psychological and behavioral measures. Regression and mediation analyses examined the relationship between chronic pain and academic achievement measures, including the derived variables of pathway to higher education and educational qualifications.

Results: Adolescents with chronic pain were found to experience more difficulties with mental health, bullying, and substance use. Additionally, a relationship between chronic pain and reporting a pathway to higher education was found after key variables were accounted for, although group differences were not observed across other academic achievement measures. Further analyses identified a moderate indirect effect of chronic pain on reporting a pathway to higher education when mediated by sleep difficulties.

Conclusions: The limited predictive relationship between chronic pain and academic achievement potentially indicates that, despite struggling more with factors such as mental health, bullying, and substance use, adolescents with chronic pain may utilize enhanced skills in maintaining a developmental trajectory at school or external factors such as support from their caregivers or school. The complex interrelationship between sleep and chronic pain is also an important consideration for the ability to achieve academically.