title: Associations between psychosocial factors and pain intensity, physical functioning, and psychological functioning in patients with chronic pain: a cross-cultural comparison.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Current models of chronic pain recognize that psychosocial factors influence pain and the effects of pain on daily life. The role of such factors has been widely studied on English-speaking individuals with chronic pain. It is possible that the associations between such factors and adjustment may be influenced by culture. This study sought to evaluate the importance of coping responses, self-efficacy beliefs, and social support to adjust to chronic pain in a sample of Portuguese patients, and discuss the findings with respect to their similarities and differences from findings of studies on English-speaking individuals.
  
  
  METHODS
  Measures of pain intensity and interference, physical and psychological functioning, coping responses, self-efficacy, and satisfaction with social support were administered to a sample of 324 Portuguese patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain. Univariate and multivariate analyses were computed. Findings were interpreted with respect to those from similar studies using English-speaking individuals.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Coping responses and perceived social support were significantly associated with pain interference and both physical and psychological functioning; self-efficacy beliefs were significantly associated with all criterion variables. All coping responses, except for task persistence, were positively associated with pain interference and negatively associated with physical and psychological functioning, with the strongest associations found for catastrophizing, praying/hoping, guarding, resting, asking for assistance, and relaxation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings provide support for the importance of the psychosocial factors studied in terms of adjustment to chronic pain in Portuguese patients, and also suggest the possibility of some differences in the role of these factors due to culture.
authors.affiliation: *Unidade de Investigação em Psicologia e Saúde, Lisboa †Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology ‡Faculdade de Psicologia e Ciências da Educação da Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal §Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA.
authors.forename: Maria A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Ferreira-Valente
authors.forename: José L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Pais-Ribeiro
authors.forename: Mark P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Jensen
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D058443:Catastrophization; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D012044:Regression Analysis; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult