Childrenʼs drawings of their pain

Abstract

Children and adolescents with recurrent migraine headaches or musculo-skeletal pain were asked to draw a picture of their pain and another picture of themselves in pain. The drawings were categorized according to content and color. No differences in content or dominant color of drawings was found for sex and there were no changes with age (5-18 years). Children with recurrent migraine more often drew themselves doing something to relieve their pain, than did children with musculo-skeletal pain. Implications for the use of pain drawings in the treatment of chronic and recurrent pain are discussed.