Chronic pain, relationships and illness self-construct

A standardised illness self-construct repertory grid was used to evaluate relationships between people with chronic pain and the person to whom they felt closest. The 'Closest Other' was used to evaluate a wider range of relationships than generally included in research on 'spouse' reactions to chronic pain. The illness self-construct repertory grid indicated that closest others tended to place illness more centrally in the life of the individual with pain than did the person who had pain. The repertory grid provided information about the relationship which was not available from responses to open-ended questions. The statistical and theoretical assumptions of repertory grid technique make it ideal for intensive study of small groups or individuals best suited to clinical settings and not for screening large numbers of subjects.