Self-efficacy and pain acceptance as mediators of the relationship between pain and performance of valued life activities in women and men with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

These findings highlight the importance of considering personal factors, such as pain acceptance and self-efficacy, in facilitating participation in valued life activities.

Correlation Between Chronic Pain Acceptance and Clinical Variables in Ankylosing Spondylitis and Its Prediction Role for Biologics Treatment

“…To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to uncover the role of chronic pain acceptance in AS. The mean CPAQ score acquired from all the 167 participants was 62.4 (SD = 24.7), which was lower than that of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, as reported by Ahlstrand et al (24). Thus, these findings suggest that there exist complex interactions between different diseases and patients' psychological properties.…”

The Role of Positive Psychological Factors in the Association between Pain Intensity and Pain Interference in Individuals with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…Preliminary research has also found that trait optimism is associated with lower levels of pain intensity and disability in individuals with chronic pain [ 30 ]. Previous observational studies have shown that pain self-efficacy partially mediates the longitudinal association between changes in pain and changes in disability in individuals with chronic low back pain [ 37 ], as well as pain self-efficacy and pain acceptance cross-sectionally mediate the association between pain intensity and engagement in valued activities in people with rheumatoid arthritis [ 35 ]. Several studies have found that self-efficacy beliefs [ 38 ] and pain acceptance [ 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 ] mediate the improvement in psychological and multidisciplinary pain treatments in individuals with chronic pain.…”

“…A number of researchers evaluated the potential cross-sectional mediator role that positive psychological factors play in the association between musculoskeletal pain intensity and a variety of pain-related outcomes [ 34 , 35 ]. For example, pain self-efficacy was shown to cross-sectionally mediate the association between pain intensity and depression in a sample of individuals with fibromyalgia [ 34 ].…”

“…Additionally, one facet of pain acceptance—activity engagement—was shown to cross-sectionally mediate the association between self-compassion and depressive symptoms in a sample of individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain [ 36 ]. Similarly, pain self-efficacy and another facet of pain acceptance—pain willingness—were shown to cross-sectionally mediate the association between pain intensity and engagement in valued life activities in a sample of individuals with rheumatoid arthritis [ 35 ].…”

“…Third, we sought to test the cross-sectional mediating roles of pain acceptance, pain self-efficacy, and optimism in the association between pain intensity and pain interference in the study sample. Given previous research in this area [ 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 ] and the theoretical pain frameworks that hypothesized the beneficial effects of positive psychological factors in the adjustment of chronic pain [ 17 , 18 ], we hypothesized [i] significant negative associations between measures of the three positive psychological factors and pain interference, [ii] significant cross-sectional mediation effects for the positive psychological factors in the association between pain intensity and pain interference, and [iii] significant cross-sectional buffering/moderation effects for the positive psychological factors, such that the association between pain intensity and pain interference would be weaker for those endorsing higher levels of the positive psychological factors. Although our study was cross-sectional and we cannot draw causal conclusions from mediation analyses of cross-sectional data, cross-sectional mediation analyses can still be performed as a way to develop hypotheses about possible causal associations that can then be tested with longitudinal designs.…”