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Spouse beliefs about partner chronic pain
Annmarie Cano1, Lisa Renee Miller, Amy Loree
1Department of Psychology, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan 48202, USA. acano@wayne.edu
The Journal of Pain
|April 7, 2009
Summary
Significant others
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Pain Management
- Social Science
Background:
- Patient pain beliefs influence adjustment and outcomes.
- Limited understanding of significant others' (SO) pain beliefs.
- SO beliefs may impact patient pain experience and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- Develop a reliable measure for SO pain beliefs.
- Examine correlates of SO pain beliefs.
- Investigate the relationship between SO beliefs and patient outcomes.
Main Methods:
- Adapted the Survey of Pain Beliefs (SOPA) for SOs.
- Used established scale development procedures.
- Recruited 104 married couples with one partner experiencing chronic pain.
Main Results:
- Developed a 7-subscale SO version of the SOPA.
- SO beliefs about disability, emotion, control, and medication correlated with patient pain severity and adjustment.
- SO beliefs linked to spouse responses, depressive symptoms, and marital dissatisfaction.
- SOs' personal pain experiences did not predict their beliefs about partners' pain.
Conclusions:
- Introduced a novel measure for assessing SO pain beliefs.
- SO beliefs are associated with patient pain adjustment and relationship factors.
- This measure can aid clinicians and researchers in understanding and tracking SO pain beliefs.
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