Pain and development of identity in adolescents who frequently use over-the-counter analgesics: A qualitative study.

Pain among adolescents may be amplified by a difficult family situation and insecure relationships with peers. Strategies within the family may sustain pain as a shared project keeping the adolescent and main caregiver close together, and this might be hampering identity development. To help adolescents with pain and high consumption of over-the-counter analgesics, the adolescents' relationship with parents must be considered in designing an intervention. Guidance on pain assessment, pain management, including appropriate use of over-the-counter analgesics, should be included.