Early maladaptive schemas as a risk factor for fibromyalgia: A case-control study.

Abstract

Objective: There is evidence supporting the relationship between early stress and childhood trauma and the development of fibromyalgia (FM). Early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) are considered a consequence of early stress. Previous research has shown their role in maintaining stress responses and their relevance in other populations with pain. The main aim of this study has been to analyze the presence of EMSs in patients with FM compared to healthy adult women. In addition, the relationship between the strength of EMSs and pain intensity was tested. Method: The total sample consisted of 167 women: 83 patients with FM and 84 healthy controls. Results: Chi-square analyses showed that the percentage of participants with clinically significant scores is higher for patients with FM in 11 of the 18 EMSs evaluated. Moreover, discriminant analyses revealed that these EMS are useful to discriminate between FM and healthy controls, classifying 74.2% of original cases. In relation to the second aim, the mean pain intensity correlated with the strength of several EMSs: approval seeking, unrelenting standards, insufficient self-control, and mistrust/abuse. Conclusions: The current study highlights that a high rate of patients with FM have clinically significant EMSs compared to healthy matched controls, as has been found in other populations with pain. Besides, this study provides initial evidence that EMSs are positively associated with the pain experienced by patients with FM, suggesting the existence of a possible association between early stress and pain. Therefore, taking EMSs into account could be of great relevance to clinicians. Clinical Impact StatementEmotional-cognitive variables and early stress have a central role in fibromyalgia (FM). One of the consequences of childhood stress is the development of a strong system of maladaptive beliefs called early maladaptive schemas (EMSs). EMSs seem to be relevant in the development of several pain problems. This is the first study analyzing EMSs in patients with FM. The results showed that participants with FM have more clinically altered EMSs than healthy people, and these EMSs are associated to pain intensity. Taking EMSs into account could be of relevance to clinicians and Young's Schema Therapy could be useful in their management.

Effectiveness of cognitive reappraisal and distraction for induced acute pain: A laboratory study.

“…In sum, the obtained data suggest that cognitive reappraisal is useful to modulate perceived pain intensity and pain unpleasantness regardless of the intensity of the painful stimuli. Therefore, these data could be of great clinical relevance for better acute pain management, and like the data of Hampton et al (2015) and López-López et al (2023), our results suggest that cognitive reappraisal could be potentially beneficial to regulate sensory and emotional pain responses to procedures that may cause acute pain, such as medical tests, oral or physiotherapy interventions.…”

“…Hence, it would be recommendable that future studies try to recruit samples with a similar proportion of men and women, a greater education level diversity, and a larger ethnic representativeness. Regarding age, in our study it was limited to 65 years old (Kohl et al, 2014; López-López et al, 2023) to control age-related significant decrements in the efficacy of the endogenous analgesic system (Gibson & Farrell, 2004; Zhou et al, 2015). With the exception of Zhou et al (2015), no differences in perceived pain intensity and pain unpleasantness scores have been found between young and older adults after implementing distraction (González-Roldán et al, 2020; Lithfous et al, 2023) regardless of the intensity of the pain stimuli.…”

“…A fifth limitation refers to the self-report instruments used to measure the variables under study. According to López-López et al (2023), these instruments are subject to memory biases and may affect the accuracy with which participants respond to the scales. The results of the present study are based on self-report scales validated in Spanish with a Spanish population; however, most of the studies cited use samples drawn from the U.S. population.…”

“…If the patient is unable to move, use a fixed screen or virtual reality eyeglasses. Authors as López-López et al (2023) recommended the use of this strategy to deal with medical procedures that cause pain for a short period of time. Empirical studies conducted in clinical settings showed that distraction interventions are effective in reducing pain perception and distress during medical and dental procedures (Indovina et al, 2018; Shetty et al, 2019).…”

Poznawcze uwarunkowania uwikłania w mobbing – rozważania teoretyczne

“…Istnieje dośae du¿a liczba badañ potwierdza-j¹cych zwi¹zki wczesnodzieciêcych WNS z funkcjonowaniem w ¿yciu prywatnym (satysfakcja ze zwi¹zku, reakcje na zdradê w zwi¹zku romantycznym, przemoc interpersonalna, zdrowie psychiczne i somatyczne itd.) [28][29]. Badañ nad rol¹ WNS jako wyznaczników funkcjonowania cz³owieka w pracy w³aściwie nie ma.…”