Findings from the current study indicate a pattern of results similar to prior studies in which greater levels of catastrophic thinking is associated with higher perceived pain intensity whereas greater levels of acceptance relate to better functioning in activities despite chronic pain. However, in the current study, both acceptance and catastrophizing were associated with negative affect. These relationships were significant beyond the effects of clinical and demographic variables. These results support the role of pain acceptance as an important contribution to chronic pain-related outcomes alongside the well-established role of pain catastrophizing. Results are limited by reliance on self-report data, cross-sectional design, and low racial/ethnic diversity.
Pain catastrophizing is a multifaceted construct, and different domains of catastrophizing are uniquely related to pain-related outcomes. This study represents the first to evaluate the functioning of these subscales in a large, diagnostically heterogeneous sample of chronic pain patients.
This study evaluated the relation of particular aspects of pain-related anxiety to characteristics of chronic pain distress in a sample of 76 individuals with low-back pain. Consistent with contemporary cognitive-behavioral models of chronic pain, the cognitive dimension of the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS; McCracken, Zayfert, and Gross, 1992, Pain 50:67-73) was uniquely predictive of cognitive-affective aspects of chronic pain, including affective distress, perceived lack of control, and pain severity. In contrast, the escape and avoidance dimension of the PASS was more predictive of behavioral interference in life activities. Overall, the findings are discussed within the context of identifying particular pain-related anxiety mechanisms contributing to differential aspects of pain-related distress and clinical impairment.
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