Parents play an important role in their children's understanding of pain. However, research is needed to fully understand how to best explain pain to parents. This study examined the effect of explanatory frameworks on parents' beliefs about and understanding of pediatric pain in a sample of 249 general population parents. The study looked to see if the type of framework the participants received impacted their beliefs and understanding. The impact of metaphors on participant beliefs and understanding were also examined. There were five different explanatory frameworks utilized in the study including a biomedical framework, psychological framework, biopsychosocial framework, metaphor framework, and biopsychosocial and metaphor combination framework. The type of framework read by the participants did not impact participant understanding or beliefs. However, the presence of a metaphor did impact the participants' endorsements of pain attributions. Findings regarding other aspects of the study are also reviewed. Implications for future research are discussed.