The Effect of Psychologically Informed Education in Adolescents With Patellofemoral Pain

"The education session will teach participants how the body processes nociception and experiences pain, and pain does not mean tissues are being damaged. Additionally we will use the framework called the Common Sense Model of Self-Regulation which advocates for education to address five cognitive dimensions: (1) identity (the effort to evaluate symptoms and label the illness); (2) cause (the subjectively formulated belief of what is causing the symptoms); (3) time-line (the patient's perception of how long the problem will last); (4) consequences (the patient's predictions of how the illness will affect them in different areas of their life); and (5) controllability (the patient's belief regarding their outcome and personal ability to change it)"

Participants in the control group will watch three videos equal in length to the psychologically-informed videos. The control videos will discuss anatomy of the lower extremity, basic instruction in proper lower extremity biomechanics, and simple lower extremity exercises. The control videos will provide no psychologically-informed education or positive reinforcement about the condition.