Family resilience and adaptive coping in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis: protocol for a systematic review

This systematic review is the first step in a study investigating the resilience methods and processes in families of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. In particular, this review will focus on chronic or persistent pain, as a common symptom of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, which is the most common rheumatic disease in childhood. The experience of persistent pain can add to the functional disability associated with juvenile idiopathic arthritis. Resilience has relevance to all areas of paediatric psychology, and targeted attention to child, sibling, and parent strengths within the context of paediatric chronic pain and juvenile idiopathic arthritis in particular will augment the field on numerous levels. The objective is to determine which resilience processes are associated with a favourable quality of life in terms of academic, communication, emotional, interpersonal, physical, psychological, and social well-being in families of children with chronic pain associated with JIA.

This systematic review will be conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses statement and the PRESS (Peer Review of Electronic Search Strategies) guideline.

Longitudinal, cross-sectional, and treatment studies written in English will be included, as will grey literature (i.e. conference abstracts and dissertations).

Studies involving participants who are 6–18 years of age, have been diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, are experiencing chronic pain, and are currently undergoing treatment will be included regardless of sex, arthritis type, and type of treatment. Studies including siblings who are 6–18 years of age and the patient’s parents will be included.

Research exploring resilience within the adult population is accruing. Shifting our focus to protective factors of resilience in the context of paediatric chronic pain, specifically juvenile idiopathic arthritis, is a novel and promising pursuit that has the potential to optimize and inform future clinical practice and interventions. A better understanding of the role of reliance in family adaptation will facilitate the development of more effective treatment approaches and lay the foundation for more effective self-management in paediatric chronic pain.

This protocol is registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database (registration: CRD42016047226).