Self-medication with over-the-counter (OTC) analgesics, such as paracetamol (PCM), among children and adolescents is increasing and constitutes an important public health issue internationally. Reasons for this development are unclear; parental influence is suggested. Our objective was to examine whether self-medication with OTC analgesics among school-aged children is influenced by maternal self-reported health and medicine use, taking the child's frequency of pain into account.