Implicit associations between pain and self-schema in patients with chronic pain.
Chronic pain often interferes with daily functioning, and may become a threat to an individual's sense of self. Despite the development of a recent theoretical account focussing upon the relationship between the presence of chronic pain and a person's self, research investigating this idea is limited. In the present study we aimed to (1) compare the strength of association between self- and pain schema in patients with chronic pain and healthy control subjects and (2) research whether the strength of association between self- and pain-schema is related to particular pain-related outcomes and individual differences of patients with chronic pain. Seventy-three patients with chronic pain (M(age) = 49.95; SD = 9.76) and 53 healthy volunteers (M(age) = 48.53; SD = 10.37) performed an Implicit Association Test (IAT) to assess the strength of association between pain- and self-schema. Patients with chronic pain also filled out self-report measures of pain severity, pain suffering, disability, depression, anxiety, acceptance, and helplessness. Results indicated that the pain- and self-schema were more strongly associated in patients with chronic pain than in healthy control subjects. Second, results indicated that, in patients with chronic pain, a stronger association between self- and pain-schema, as measured with the IAT, is related to a heightened level of pain severity, pain suffering, anxiety, and helplessness. Current findings give first support for the use of an IAT to investigate the strength of association between self- and pain-schema in patients with chronic pain and suggest that pain therapies may incorporate techniques that intervene on the level of self-pain enmeshment.
Department of Experimental Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Belgium.
Dimitri M L
DML
Van Ryckeghem
Jan
J
De Houwer
Bram
B
Van Bockstaele
Stefaan
S
Van Damme
Maarten
M
De Schryver
Geert
G
Crombez
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001244:Association; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology*; D010775:Photic Stimulation / Q000379:methods; D012649:Self Concept; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
Chronic pain; Implicit Association Test; Self