Posttraumatic Growth and Depreciation in People With Chronic Pain: A Profile Analysis

Objective: Chronic pain can disrupt everyday life and shatter beliefs about the world. Shattered beliefs may be rebuilt, either positively or negatively, leading to posttraumatic growth (PTG) or posttraumatic depreciation (PTD). According to a transdiagnostic emotion regulation perspective, these phenomena are associated with coping strategies and emotions related to the body, self, others, and the world. Because PTG and PTD can coexist, this study aims to compare different profiles of rebuilt beliefs based on emotions, emotion regulation, and psychopathology. Method: People with chronic pain (N = 1,577) completed online self-report questionnaires evaluating PTG and PTD, trauma-related emotions, and reactions regarding pain (guilt, shame, mental defeat, injustice, feeling discounted, sensitivity to pain traumatization, sense of body-self unity), difficulties in emotion regulation, coping strategies, and psychopathological symptoms. Results: Profiles illustrate four ways to experience potentially traumatic and life-challenging circumstances: no disruption, ambivalence, growth, and distress. Differences were found regarding trauma-related emotions and reactions, levels of comorbid psychopathologies, and emotion regulation. Conclusions: Considering trauma as a genuine dimension of chronic pain experience could provide an important framework to better address the resources and trajectories of people with chronic pain. Clinical Impact Statement Chronic pain experience can involve a traumatic dimension that shatters the way an individual relates to the self and the world. A person-centered statistical approach of posttraumatic growth and depreciation could give a bigger picture of the subjective experience which may suggest opportunities to personalize treatment. This may be a relevant framework consistent with a transdiagnostic emotion regulation perspective.