The role of psychological variables in explaining depression in older people with chronic pain.
OBJECTIVE
Depression is commonly associated with chronic pain, and is also a common condition in the elderly. However research in the area of depression and pain is scarce. The aim of the present work was to analyse how cognitive-behavioural and perceptual variables help to explain the presence or absence of depression in older people with chronic pain caused by osteoarthritis.


METHODS
A total of 104 older adults were evaluated using a protocol that measured depression, perceptual characteristics of pain (intensity, frequency and duration), beliefs about pain, self-efficacy beliefs, coping style, coping strategies and pain behaviours.


RESULTS
Using Student's t-tests and discriminant analysis, we found that psychological variables such as catastrophizing, passive coping, complaint behaviour, avoidance, coping self-statements, ignoring pain sensations and stability and mystery beliefs help to explain depressive symptomatology.


CONCLUSIONS
The present study confirms the important role of cognitive-behavioural variables in the discrimination between older adults who suffer pain with and without symptoms of depression. Moreover, certain variables that in young adults had been seen to play a non-adaptive role, such as ignoring pain sensations, were seen to have an adaptive function in the elderly. Also, our results are in support of depression models - such as Abramson's Hopelessness Model - proposing that depression in chronic pain patients, unlike in other groups of depressed people, is characterized by absence of self-blame feelings.
López-López
Almudena
A
Department of Psychology, Rey Juan Carlos University, Madrid, Spain. almudena.lopez@urjc.es
Montorio
Ignacio
I
Izal
María
M
Velasco
Lilian
L
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged / Q000523:psychology; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D016002:Discriminant Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000523:psychology; D010465:Perception; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D020377:Self Efficacy; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires