Clinical Profiles of Young Adults With Juvenile‐Onset Fibromyalgia With and Without a History of Trauma

Objective To examine the differential presentation(s) of psychological and health‐related outcomes in young adults with juvenile‐onset fibromyalgia ( FM ) with and without a history of trauma, compared to healthy controls. Methods In total, 110 participants (86 with juvenile‐onset FM and 24 healthy controls, with a mean age of 23.4 years) completed a structured clinical interview to assess for trauma and psychological comorbidities, as well as self‐report questionnaires on pain, physical functioning, and health care utilization. Results Of the juvenile‐onset FM participants, 37% (n = 32) reported a history of trauma. Three group comparisons (i.e., juvenile‐onset FM with trauma versus juvenile‐onset FM with no trauma versus healthy controls) revealed that juvenile‐onset FM participants significantly differed from healthy controls on all psychological and health‐related outcomes. Further, although juvenile‐onset FM participants with and without a history of trauma did not significantly differ on pain and physical functioning, juvenile‐onset FM participants with a history of trauma were significantly more likely to have psychological comorbidities. Conclusion This is the first controlled study to examine the differential outcomes between juvenile‐onset FM participants with and without a history of trauma. Group comparisons between juvenile‐onset FM participants and healthy controls were consistent with previous research. Further, our findings indicate that juvenile‐onset FM participants with a history of trauma experience greater psychological, but not physical, impairment than juvenile‐onset FM participants without a history of trauma.