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Pain self-efficacy moderates the association between pain and somatization in a community sample
Petri Karkkola1, Sanna Sinikallio1, Niko Flink1
1School of Educational Sciences and Psychology, University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland.
Scandinavian Journal of Pain
|September 22, 2018
Summary
Pain self-efficacy may protect against somatization in individuals experiencing pain. This psychological factor appears to weaken the link between pain and somatization, suggesting a potential protective role in pain management.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Pain Management
- Health Psychology
Background:
- Pain is common, but chronic pain affects a minority.
- Factors like somatization and low pain self-efficacy increase chronic pain risk.
- Protective psychological factors in non-chronic pain populations are understudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if pain self-efficacy moderates the relationship between pain and somatization.
- To examine the role of pain self-efficacy in attenuating pain-related anxiety and somatization.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional study with 211 community participants.
- Assessed average pain, anxiety, somatization, and pain self-efficacy.
- Regression analyses used to test for moderation effects.
Main Results:
- Pain self-efficacy did not moderate the pain-anxiety association.
- Pain self-efficacy significantly moderated the pain-somatization relationship (3% variance explained).
- Stronger pain-somatization link observed in low pain self-efficacy group compared to high.
Conclusions:
- Pain self-efficacy partly attenuates associations between pain and risk factors for chronicity.
- Findings suggest pain self-efficacy may act as a protective factor.
- Further longitudinal research is needed to confirm these effects and inform theoretical models.
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