Couple Interventions for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Science
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Chronic pain significantly impacts individuals and their relationships.
• Couple interventions show promise in managing chronic pain more effectively than individual approaches.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review randomized controlled trials of couple interventions for chronic pain.
• To identify strategies from these interventions for integration into psychotherapy for individuals with chronic pain (ICPs) and their partners.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of randomized controlled trials.
• Searched PubMed, Embase, and PsycInfo databases.
• Included 18 studies (22 articles) on couple interventions for chronic pain.

Main Results:

• Couple interventions demonstrated statistically significant improvements in pain intensity and pain-related outcomes compared to control or individual interventions.
• Common strategies included pain education, joint relaxation/meditation, cognitive-behavioral skills training, promoting assistance, discouraging pain behaviors, and goal setting.

Conclusions:

• Couple interventions offer effective strategies for managing chronic pain.
• Therapists can integrate these relational, behaviorally-based strategies into practice to support couples coping with chronic pain.