Trial Outcomes & Findings for Feeling and Body Investigators for Pediatric Abdominal Pain (NCT NCT02075437)

Feeling and Body Investigators (FBI) is a 10-session intervention to treat children with functional abdominal pain. The treatment contains the following components: 1) We aim to reduce fearful perceptions of somatic and visceral sensations by linking sensations to playful characters. In sessions organized by theme (e.g., the Eats), children build curious reactions to things they notice in their bodies using funny cartoon characters used to teach them the meaning of different sensations (e.g. Betty Butterfly for gut butterflies of anxiety). 2) Children perform interoceptive exposure activities designed to demonstrate how smart and tough the body is in responding to different demands (e.g., seeing how fast a child can run even if they feel uncomfortable). 3) Children learn to link body sensations to meanings and actions. Using a Body Clues Worksheet, children figure out what they were feeling, what their feeling was telling them, and try out different ways to respond to the messages of their body to see what happens. 4) Families design investigations to help them face challenging situations (e.g. devising a plan to run around at recess to try to get all their gas out and see what happens to their abdominal pain after recess). If successful, kids with FAP who complete treatment will learn to experience body sensations as fun and fascinating, rather than scary, and develop new capacities for pain management, increase adaptive functioning, and enhance interoceptive responsivity.

Feeling and Body Investigators (FBI) is a 10-session intervention to treat children with functional abdominal pain. The treatment contains the following components: 1) We aim to reduce fearful perceptions of somatic and visceral sensations by linking sensations to playful characters. In sessions organized by theme (e.g., the Eats), children build curious reactions to things they notice in their bodies using funny cartoon characters used to teach them the meaning of different sensations (e.g. Betty Butterfly for gut butterflies of anxiety). 2) Children perform interoceptive exposure activities designed to demonstrate how smart and tough the body is in responding to different demands (e.g., seeing how fast a child can run even if they feel uncomfortable). 3) Children learn to link body sensations to meanings and actions. Using a Body Clues Worksheet, children figure out what they were feeling, what their feeling was telling them, and try out different ways to respond to the messages of their body to see what happens. 4) Families design investigations to help them face challenging situations (e.g. devising a plan to run around at recess to try to get all their gas out and see what happens to their abdominal pain after recess). If successful, kids with FAP who complete treatment will learn to experience body sensations as fun and fascinating, rather than scary, and develop new capacities for pain management, increase adaptive functioning, and enhance interoceptive responsivity.

n=28 Participants

Feeling and Body Investigators (FBI) is a 10-session intervention to treat children with functional abdominal pain. The treatment contains the following components: 1) We aim to reduce fearful perceptions of somatic and visceral sensations by linking sensations to playful characters. In sessions organized by theme (e.g., the Eats), children build curious reactions to things they notice in their bodies using funny cartoon characters used to teach them the meaning of different sensations (e.g. Betty Butterfly for gut butterflies of anxiety). 2) Children perform interoceptive exposure activities designed to demonstrate how smart and tough the body is in responding to different demands (e.g., seeing how fast a child can run even if they feel uncomfortable). 3) Children learn to link body sensations to meanings and actions. Using a Body Clues Worksheet, children figure out what they were feeling, what their feeling was telling them, and try out different ways to respond to the messages of their body to see what happens. 4) Families design investigations to help them face challenging situations (e.g. devising a plan to run around at recess to try to get all their gas out and see what happens to their abdominal pain after recess). If successful, kids with FAP who complete treatment will learn to experience body sensations as fun and fascinating, rather than scary, and develop new capacities for pain management, increase adaptive functioning, and enhance interoceptive responsivity.

n=28 Participants

Feeling and Body Investigators (FBI) is a 10-session intervention to treat children with functional abdominal pain. The treatment contains the following components: 1) We aim to reduce fearful perceptions of somatic and visceral sensations by linking sensations to playful characters. In sessions organized by theme (e.g., the Eats), children build curious reactions to things they notice in their bodies using funny cartoon characters used to teach them the meaning of different sensations (e.g. Betty Butterfly for gut butterflies of anxiety). 2) Children perform interoceptive exposure activities designed to demonstrate how smart and tough the body is in responding to different demands (e.g., seeing how fast a child can run even if they feel uncomfortable). 3) Children learn to link body sensations to meanings and actions. Using a Body Clues Worksheet, children figure out what they were feeling, what their feeling was telling them, and try out different ways to respond to the messages of their body to see what happens. 4) Families design investigations to help them face challenging situations (e.g. devising a plan to run around at recess to try to get all their gas out and see what happens to their abdominal pain after recess). If successful, kids with FAP who complete treatment will learn to experience body sensations as fun and fascinating, rather than scary, and develop new capacities for pain management, increase adaptive functioning, and enhance interoceptive responsivity.

n=28 Participants

Feeling and Body Investigators (FBI) is a 10-session intervention to treat children with functional abdominal pain. The treatment contains the following components: 1) We aim to reduce fearful perceptions of somatic and visceral sensations by linking sensations to playful characters. In sessions organized by theme (e.g., the Eats), children build curious reactions to things they notice in their bodies using funny cartoon characters used to teach them the meaning of different sensations (e.g. Betty Butterfly for gut butterflies of anxiety). 2) Children perform interoceptive exposure activities designed to demonstrate how smart and tough the body is in responding to different demands (e.g., seeing how fast a child can run even if they feel uncomfortable). 3) Children learn to link body sensations to meanings and actions. Using a Body Clues Worksheet, children figure out what they were feeling, what their feeling was telling them, and try out different ways to respond to the messages of their body to see what happens. 4) Families design investigations to help them face challenging situations (e.g. devising a plan to run around at recess to try to get all their gas out and see what happens to their abdominal pain after recess). If successful, kids with FAP who complete treatment will learn to experience body sensations as fun and fascinating, rather than scary, and develop new capacities for pain management, increase adaptive functioning, and enhance interoceptive responsivity.