Resilience Coaching for Adolescents With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

May 22, 2026 updated by: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Resilience Coaching for Adolescents With Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn about resilience coaching in adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The main questions it aims to answer are to 1) determine how helpful resilience coaching is for teens with chronic musculoskeletal pain, 2) which participants are best suited for resilience coaching, and 3) barriers and facilitators to implementing resilience coaching as part of routine clinical care. Participants will complete survey measures and participate in the resilience coaching intervention called Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM). Researchers will compare youth in PRISM to those receiving usual care to determine whether PRISM leads to greater improvements in functional disability, psychological distress, and pain intensity than usual care alone.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

The purpose of this study is to find out if a resilience coaching program called Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) can help youth with chronic musculoskeletal pain better cope with their chronic illness.Researchers will recruit a total of 130 youth with chronic musculoskeletal pain and one of their caregivers (total number of participants = 260). Teens will be randomly assigned to either a control group (usual care) or a treatment group (PRISM + usual care). PRISM consists of 4 study visits with a resilience coach, and one optional coming together session in which caregivers are invited to join. PRISM will occur over approximately 12 weeks. All participants will complete survey measures at baseline, 3-months and 9 months. Selected participants in PRISM will be invited to participate in interviews to provide feedback on the intervention. We will also interview 10 pediatric rheumatologists at other centers to obtain their feedback on the intervention and whether it would be valuable and feasible in their clinical setting. At the end of the study, researchers will assess whether participants in PRISM had improved functional disability, psychological distress and pain intensity as compared to the usual care arm.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
260

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Mackenzie McGill, MD, MSCE
  • Phone Number: 267-426-8726
  • Email: mcgillm1@chop.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • patient participants aged 12-17 years,
  • newly diagnosed with chronic musculoskeletal pain, defined as bone, joint, muscle, or related soft tissue pain lasting ≥ 3 months
  • willing to provide informed consent/assent
  • one caregiver willing to consent and participate in dyad
  • dyad identifies English as primary language
  • mild or greater impairment due to pain (defined as Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Pain Interference T-score ≥ 60 at time of last clinic visit and/or self- or parent- reported impairment of activities of daily living due to pain at time of screening)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • unable to provide assent and/or without a legal guardian able to provide consent for the study subject or themselves
  • isolated/localized head pain or abdominal pain
  • complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
  • Receiving cognitive behavioral therapy at time of screening

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Resilience Coaching plus Usual Care
Promoting Resilience in Stress Management (PRISM) is a 1:1, remotely delivered, resilience coaching program for adolescents with chronic illness, consisting of skill-building sessions in stress management, goal setting, cognitive re-framing, and benefit-finding. Sessions are held every 1-2 weeks for a total of 4 required and one optional session and each session lasts about 30-45 minutes.
Behavioral: Promoting Resilience in Stress Management
Resilience coaching program.
Active Comparator: Usual Care
Usual care consists of an individualized treatment combining physical therapy, occupational therapy and psychological counseling. This is determined by the treating provider.
Other: Usual Care
Combination of physical therapy, occupational therapy, and psychological counseling as recommended by the treating provider.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Functional Disability
Time Frame: Measured at 3 months post-randomization.
Functional disability at 3 months will be measured via the Functional Disability Inventory (FDI) score (ranging from 0-60 with higher scores indicating greater self-perceived functional disability).
Measured at 3 months post-randomization.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Psychological distress
Time Frame: Measured at 3 months post-randomization.
Psychological distress at 3 months will be measured via the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6) score. Responses are scored on 5-point Likert scale (total score ranging from 0-24). Previous studies have shown that scores ≥ 7 are consistent with "high" distress and those ≥ 13 meet criteria for serious, or debilitating psychological distress.
Measured at 3 months post-randomization.
Pain intensity
Time Frame: Measured at 3 months post-randomization.
Pain intensity at 3 months will be measured via the PROMIS (Patient Reported Outcome Measure Information System) Pediatric Numeric Rating Scale v1.0- Pain Intensity score (ranging from 0-10 with higher scores indicating greater pain intensity).
Measured at 3 months post-randomization.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Sabrina Gmuca, MD MSCE, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
May 8, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
November 2, 2025

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
May 18, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
April 18, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 18, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
April 28, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
May 26, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 22, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 22-020664
  • K23AR081409 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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