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Papers of the Week


Papers: 20 Jun 2020 - 26 Jun 2020

RESEARCH TYPE:
Psychology


Human Studies


2020 Jun 22


J Clin Psychol

Pain centrality mediates pain self-efficacy and symptom severity among individuals reporting chronic pain.

Authors

Sucher J, Quenstedt SR, Parnes MKF, Brown AD
J Clin Psychol. 2020 Jun 22.
PMID: 32567702.

Abstract

Chronic pain is consistently associated with the presence of mental health disorders. Although previous research has shown relations between low levels of self-efficacy with chronic pain severity as well as comorbid mental health symptoms, the link between self-efficacy and mental health symptoms in chronic pain is not well understood. This study examined whether pain centrality, the extent to which pain is viewed as central to self-identity, may underlie these associations. Individuals with a diagnosis of chronic pain (N = 89) recruited through MTurkcompleted self-report measures including demographics, self-efficacy, pain centrality, pain severity, depression, and anxiety. Pain severity was associated with higher levels of pain centrality, depression, anxiety, and lower levels of self-efficacy. Path analysis demonstrated pain centrality significantly mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and pain severity, depression, and anxiety. Future studies would benefit from testing whether modifying pain centrality beliefs shift perceptions of control as well as pain and psychological outcomes.