[Family emotional climate of pain patients]

Personal clinical experiences in an interdisciplinary pain clinic and their integration into family interaction theories led to a concept of an explorative study of chronic pain patients. Therefore 32 patients and their spouses were investigated with the "family-environment-scale" (by Moos and Moos 1981, adapted by Schneewind et al. 1985). Most of the couples showed agreement with regard to familial solidarity, combined with few expressions of anger and conflict and low achievement orientation. The typical profile of these factors led to one group with the "positive-emotional family climate", in contrast to one group with the "normative-authoritative family climate". In addition, a potentially new factor was described as a so-called "symbiotic family climate". The latter constellation was on the one hand quite similar compared to the "positive-emotional climate", but differed on the other hand because of the small amount of structural control. The interference of these family climate profiles with the process of chronification for pain patients is discussed.