Coping with chronic pain

Chronic pain is the primary reason individuals seek medical treatment and such pain is associated with elevated levels of psychological distress. Thus, this study examined how coping and distress impacts one's subjective experience of chronic pain. During their first visit to a pain clinic, 166 chronic pain patients completed questionnaires on pain, distress, and both dispositional and health-specific coping styles (Time 1). Six months after completing Time 1, participants ( N=49) willing to participate in the second part of the study (Time 2) completed questionnaires on pain, and health-specific coping styles. Results showed that (1) health related coping styles and pain were stable from Time 1 to 2; (2) generally, at Time 1, both dispositional and health related coping styles were positively related to both pain and distress; (3) at Time 2 only palliative coping was positively correlated with pain; (4) distress was positively correlated with pain at Times 1 and 2; (5) emotion-oriented coping at Time 1 was positively related to pain at Time 2. Therefore, pain clinic coordinators should focus on reducing patients’ avoidance and emotion-oriented coping styles and decreasing patients’ distress in helping patients adjust to their chronic pain.