What?
Work package three will further explore the links between chronic pain self-management, executive functions, and environmental inequalities (i.e. SES and parental support).
Research questions:
Do EF skills develop differently in young people with and without MCP?
How does SES influence the development of EF in young people with and without MCP?
How do EF skills influence engagement with self-management tasks and pain interference in young people with MCP?
How do environmental inequalities, such low SES and lack of parental support, influence engagement with self-management tasks and pain interference in young people with MCP?
Why?
The existing longitudinal data that will be using in work package 2 only includes EF data up to the age of 17, and does not include data on self-management engagement or parental support. Hence, in work package 3 we will collect data from young people aged 12 -24 across 2 time points (1 year apart) to fully explore these concepts.
How?
We will recruit a new cohort of young people with musculoskeletal chronic pain, and measure their executive function development over time. This data will be used along with information about their socioeconomic circumstances, parental support and pain experiences. We will also use the self-management engagement tool developed as part of work package 1 to investigate the influence of EF, SES and parental support on pain self-management engagement.
When?
Work package 3 is planned to commence at the end of 2026 and continue until mid-2029.