Perceived Stress and Pain Interference in Acute Rehabilitation Following Spinal Cord Injury: Resilience as a Moderator

Purpose/Objective: Higher levels of resilience is associated with improved pain outcomes in chronic pain and other neurological populations, but the role of resilience in pain following spinal cord injury (SCI) remains unclear. This study examined resilience as a moderator in the relationship between perceived stress and both pain intensity and interference during acute rehabilitation for SCI. Research Method/Design: Individuals admitted to inpatient rehabilitation acutely following SCI (N = 57) completed measures of perceived stress, resilience, pain intensity, and interference. The Johnson-Neyman procedure was used to examine significance of conditional relationships that emerged. Results: Resilience was found to moderate the relationship between perceived stress and pain interference, but not pain intensity, during inpatient rehabilitation. Conclusions/Implications: When resilience is low, perceived stress has a more profound and adverse impact on pain interference during inpatient rehabilitation, suggesting therapeutic strategies that build components of resilience are needed during acute rehabilitation following SCI. The relationship between stress, resilience, and pain may differ postinpatient rehabilitation for SCI and warrants further investigation. Impact and Implications The current study shows that higher levels of resilience among those undergoing inpatient rehabilitation postspinal cord injury buffers the negative impact of perceived stress on pain interference. These results suggest protective psychological factors, such as resilience, may be an important therapeutic target for pain outcomes during inpatient rehabilitation, though further study is needed.