Psychology

Research suggests that the way others react to a pain flare-up impacts on psychological and pain-related symptoms in chronic pain (CP). Experiencing validation from others is associated with less negative emotions and better functioning. Contrarily, experiencing criticism is linked to greater pain intensity and worse functioning. Nonetheless, studies are limited by an exclusive focus on spouses rather than significant other relationships, the use of proxy constructs (e.g., social support, responsiveness, solicitousness) rather than specific measures of validation and criticism, and a focus on significant others' behavior rather than patients' subjective experience. This study examines the psychometric properties of a new measure – Perceived Validation and Criticism in Pain Questionnaire (PVCPQ), and tests its contribution to functional impairment beyond pain intensity, sociodemographic and medical-related variables, positive and negative affect, safeness, and compassion from others.

Objectives A significant proportion of adolescents with chronic musculoskeletal pain (CMP) experience difficulties in physical functioning, mood and social functioning, contributing to diminished quality of life. Generalized joint hypermobility (GJH) is a risk factor for developing CMP with a striking 35-48% of patients with CMP reporting GJH. In case GJH occurs with one or more musculoskeletal manifestations such as chronic pain, trauma, disturbed proprioception and joint instability, it is referred to as generalized hypermobility spectrum disorder (G-HSD). Similar characteristics have been reported in children and adolescents with the hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (hEDS). In the management of CMP, a biopsychosocial approach is recommended as several studies have confirmed the impact of psychosocial factors in the development and maintenance of CMP. The fear-avoidance model (FAM) is a cognitive-behavioural framework that describes the role of pain-related fear as a determinant of CMP-related disability. Content Pubmed was used to identify existing relevant literature focussing on chronic musculoskeletal pain, generalized joint hypermobility, pain-related fear and disability. Relevant articles were cross-referenced to identify articles possibly missed during the primary screening. In this paper the current state of scientific evidence is presented for each individual component of the FAM in hypermobile adolescents with and without CMP. Based on this overview, the FAM is proposed explaining a possible underlying mechanism in the relations between GJH, pain-related fear and disability. Summary and outlook It is assumed that GJH seems to make you more vulnerable for injury and experiencing more frequent musculoskeletal pain. But in addition, a vulnerability for heightened pain-related fear is proposed as an underlying mechanism explaining the relationship between GJH and disability. Further scientific confirmation of this applied FAM is warranted to further unravel the underlying mechanism. In explaining disability in individuals with G-HSD/hEDS, it is important to focus on both the physical components related to joint hypermobility, in tandem with the psychological components such as pain-related fear, catastrophizing thoughts and generalized anxiety.

Most studies on chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) in people who use drugs (PWUD) are restricted to people attending substance use disorder treatment programs. This study assessed the prevalence of CNCP in a community-based sample of PWUD, identified factors associated with pain, and documented strategies used for pain relief.

High-quality chronic pain care emphasizes multimodal treatments that include medication and nonpharmacological treatments. But it is not clear which patients will participate in nonpharmacological treatments, such as physical therapy or mental health care, and previous research has shown conflicting evidence.

Functional abdominal pain is a common symptom in children and adolescents. Three years ago, we investigated the experiences among parents whose children had chronic abdominal pain but no somatic diagnosis. The aim of the present follow-up study was to explore those families' current situations.

Chronic pain is a leading cause of disability globally. Interdisciplinary multimodal pain rehabilitation (IMPR) targets pain with a bio-psycho-social approach, often delivered as composite programs. However, evidence of optimal program duration for the rehabilitation to succeed remains scarce. This study evaluated the effectiveness of different duration IMPR-programs-using within- and between-effects analyses in a pragmatic multicenter register-based controlled design. Using the Swedish Quality Registry for Pain Rehabilitation, data from fifteen clinics specialized in chronic pain rehabilitation across Sweden were retrieved. Participants were patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain who had taken part in short (4-9 weeks; = 924), moderate (10 weeks; = 1379), or long (11-18 weeks; = 395) IMPR programs. Longitudinal patient-reported outcome data were assessed at baseline, post-intervention, and at a 12-month follow-up. Primary outcomes were health-related quality of life, presented as perceived physical and mental health (SF-36). Secondary outcomes included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), pain intensity (NRS 0-10), the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI), and perceived health (EQ-5D). Overall, all groups showed improvements. No clinically important effect emerged for different duration IMPR. In conclusion, while our results showed that patients following IMPR report improvement across a bio-psycho-social specter, a longer program duration was no more effective than a shorter one.

Multidisciplinary pain management programs incorporating a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) approach have been reported to be helpful for elderly people with chronic pain. However, it is unclear whether the same program for elderly people with chronic pain would translate to different cultures. This study investigated whether a multidisciplinary program based on that of Nicholas et al. (Pain 154(6):824-835, 2013) in Australia would be effective for elderly people with chronic pain in Japan.

Pain remains a prevalent symptom for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients despite a wide therapeutic choice. The objective of this study was to provide a multidimensional evaluation of pain.