Psychology

Attachment influences the way individuals anticipate, react, and seek support when faced with chronic pain. Although cross-sectional research indicates that attachment insecurity and pain self-efficacy are associated with pain intensity in chronic pain populations, little is known about their long-term effects on pain, and about the directionality of associations between these constructs. Furthermore, whereas attachment is a relational concept, few studies on genito-pelvic pain have espoused a couples' perspective.

Individuals with chronic pain commonly report significant functional impairment and reduced quality of life. Despite this, little is known about psychological processes and mechanisms underpinning enhancements in well-being within this population. The study aimed to investigate whether (1) increased levels of pain intensity and interference were associated with lower levels of mental well-being, (2) increased positive goal engagement was associated with higher levels of mental well-being and (3) whether the relationships between pain characteristics and mental well-being were mediated by increased positive goal engagement. A total of 586 individuals with chronic pain participated in the cross-sectional, online study. Participants completed self-report measures to assess pain intensity and interference, mental well-being and goal motivation variables. Results showed that pain interference and positive goal engagement were associated with mental well-being. Moreover, the relationship between pain interference and mental well-being was partially mediated by positive goal engagement. The results provide tentative evidence for the protective role of positive goal engagement in enabling individuals with chronic pain to maintain a sense of mental well-being. The study develops the biopsychosocial model of chronic pain by examining the roles and relationships of relevant yet previously unexplored psychological constructs. The promotion of mental well-being through the enhancement of positive goal engagement is discussed, offering a platform for further research and clinical interventions.

Children of parents with chronic pain have higher rates of pain and internalizing (e.g., anxiety, depressive) symptoms than children of parents without chronic pain. Parental modeling of pain behaviour and reinforcement of child pain have been hypothesized to underlie these relationships. These mechanisms were tested in a sample of 72 parents with chronic pain and their children (ages 8-15). Standardized measures were completed by parents (pain characteristics, pain interference, child internalizing) and children (pain catastrophizing, pain over previous three months, and internalizing). In a laboratory session, children completed the cold pressor task (CPT) in the presence of their parent, and parent-child verbalizations were coded. Significant indirect effects of parental pain interference on child self-reported (B = 0.12, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.29) and parent-reported (B = 0.16, 95% CI: 0.03, 0.40) internalizing symptoms through child pain catastrophizing were found (parental modeling mechanism), and were not moderated by child chronic pain status. Significant indirect effects were found between parent pain-attending verbalizations and child self-reported (B = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.03, 5.31) and parent-reported (B = 2.18, 95% CI: 0.93, 4.27) CPT pain intensity and tolerance (B = -1.02, 95% CI: -1.92, -0.42) through child pain-attending verbalizations (parental reinforcement mechanism). While further understanding of the temporal relationships between these variables is needed, the current study identifies constructs (e.g., parent pain interference, child pain catastrophizing, parent reinforcement of child pain) which should be further examined as potential targets for prevention and intervention of pain and internalizing symptoms in children of parents with chronic pain.

Pain is a widely experienced symptom of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which has significant psychological and functional impacts on patients. Understanding the aetiology and management of chronic pain is a poorly understood area of IBD research. This qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of individuals with IBD and pain, the pain management strategies they use and any needs for future pain management interventions.

Pain has well established effects on attention. At present parallel literatures exist which have examined the effects of experimentally induced pain and consider cognitive performance in patients with chronic pain states. However, no study to date as attempted to examine the combined or differing effects of these two manifestations of pain in a single study. 24 participants with fibromyalgia (age 43.00, SD 28.28) and 26 healthy controls (age=36.07 SD=11.93) completed an n-back task, an attentional switching task, and a divided attention task, once during induced, moderately-intense pressure pain, and once without induced pain. Pain induction had selective effects on the n-back task, and an overall reduction in accuracy on the attentional switching task. Conversely, patients with fibromyalgia were selectively impaired in performance on the divided attention task. These data therefore suggest that the effects of pain are not summative and rather that the mechanisms that underlie the negative effects of pain on performance in acute and chronic states may differ. More research is needed to examine these mechanisms and how these negative effects can be ameliorated to treat cognitive symptoms in pain. Perspective: This article presents a study to examine the effects of an acute, induced pain model on cognitive performance in both fibromyalgia and healthy control populations. We established that the effects of acute and chronic pain on attention are different, suggesting different models need to be developed to understand these phenomena.

To compare adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in women with chronic pelvic pain with a control group, and describe occurrence of specific ACEs in women with chronic pelvic pain.