Citation

Tham SW, Holley AL, Zhou C, Clarke GN, Palermo TM. J. Pediatr. Psychol. 2013; 38(10): 1070-1080.

Affiliation

Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development, Seattle Children's Research Institute, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington School of Medicine, and Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/jpepsy/jst051

PMID

23860262

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study (1) examines fatigue over 1 year in adolescents with chronic pain (n = 61) and depressive disorders (n = 51) compared with healthy adolescents (n = 60), (2) identifies longitudinal risk factors, and (3) tests sleep disturbances as a mediator between depression and fatigue. METHODS: Adolescents completed questionnaires at baseline, 6, and 12 months. Mixed effects models examined associations between risk factors and fatigue; structural equation modeling assessed contemporaneous and longitudinal mediation. RESULTS: Results revealed fatigue persisted at 1 year follow-up, with adolescents in the clinical samples experiencing greater fatigue than healthy youth at all time points (ps < .001). Age, baseline depression, and baseline sleep disturbances predicted longitudinal fatigue for the total sample (ps < .05), with variation in predictors by subgroup. Sleep quality mediated the contemporaneous effects of depression on fatigue in the clinical samples (ps < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Findings underscore the longitudinal course of fatigue and suggest that improving sleep disturbances may reduce fatigue in clinical samples.

Language: en