Improving Care for Youth With FAP: A Stepped Care CBT Delivery Approach

This project aims to test a stepped care behavioral intervention approach for youth with functional abdominal pain (FAP) that is feasible to administer in medical settings. Screening and a brief intervention (i.e. psychoeducation and relaxation training) are provided to youth with FAP with more than minimal functional disability (FDI score \>7) during their medical visit as part of enhanced usual care (EUC). Patients are re-assessed after two weeks. Those that fail to respond to EUC (as evidenced by FDI score \>7) are eligible to undergo a baseline assessment and then are randomized to receive either 1) a more intensive and tailored CBT approach, Aim to Decrease Anxiety and Pain Treatment (ADAPT), provided by a trained psychologist, or 2) medical treatment as usual (TAU). It is hypothesized that youth who participate in ADAPT will have lower average pain rating scores, less pain-related functional disability, and less anxiety symptoms (if elevated) at post-assessment as compared to youth receiving medical TAU.