Chronic pain is a significant global public health problem affecting 1 in 4 adults and 1 in 5 young people. Despite the high prevalence of chronic pain, research into its prevention is scarce. In this review, we draw from current, interdisciplinary evidence to present a conceptual Situate – Experience – Learn – Feel (SELF) Framework that takes a developmental and biopsychosocial-societal approach to building children's resilience against future chronic pain. The SELF Framework considers the impact of one's S ituation, including social and societal supports and structures, early life E xperiences, L earning of skills and knowledge, and the ability to understand and differentiate F eelings, in establishing SELF-empowerment, SELF-enablement, and SELF-reliance for the management of future pain experiences. We argue that childhood (~0-10 years) is a developmental period that provides a potentially critical and thus far untapped opportunity to build resilience to chronic pain in adolescence and beyond. Our framework has three pillars: (1) LEARN: ‘Building Knowledge and Skills’ – targets children's understanding of pain and healthcare and associated behaviours; (2) EXPERIENCE: ‘Strengthening Social Support and Building Emotional Resilience’ – targets the fostering of social supports, community, positive childhood experiences, and emotional wellbeing; and (3) FEEL: ‘Building Brain-Body Integration’ – targets the development and maintenance of movement, interoception, and body awareness. For each pillar, we present its definition and scope, an evidence-based rationale, and provide implementation strategies that could reduce the risk of chronic pain in the future. Importantly, the SELF Framework considers that disadvantageous aspects of a child's broader societal/structural and social SITUATION may demand additional supports to mitigate risk, and we present several avenues for future research on this. • Childhood presents as an opportunity to build resilience to future chronic pain. • We propose conceptual SELF framework based on broad and diverse literatures. • Bio-psycho-social-societal contributions to pain resilience are considered. • Opportunities to reduce pain inequities across marginalised and disadvantaged groups are presented.
Wallwork et al. (Sun,) studied this question.