The moderating role of pain catastrophizing on the relationship between partner support and pain intensity: a daily diary study in patients with knee osteoarthritis

The objective of this study was to examine the day-to-day associations between partner support, pain catastrophizing and pain intensity in individuals with end-stage knee osteoarthritis. In this microlongitudinal cohort study, participants (N  = 124) with end-stage knee osteoarthritis completed baseline measures of trait pain catastrophizing and negative affect. Participants also provided daily diary assessments of partner support, pain catastrophizing and pain intensity for a period of 7 days using a personal digital assistant. Mul tilevel analyses revealed that day-to-day fluctuations in pain catastrophizing were associated with pain intensity. Data from multilevel analyses indicated that the main effect of partner support was not significantly associated with pain intensity. Results also indicated the interactions between pa rtner support and both trait and state pain catastrophizing were significant, suggesting that both trait and state pain catastrophizing moderated the relationship between daily partner support and pain intensity. That is, on days when participants experienced low levels of partner support, high cata strophizers reported higher levels of pain intensity than low catastrophizers. In the presence of higher levels of partner support, pain intensity did not differ between high and low catastrophizers. These results are consistent with the Communal Coping Model of pain catastrophizing, and highlight t he interpersonal context within which pain catastroph...
Source: Journal of Behavioral Medicine - Category: Psychiatry Source Type: research