Depressed mood in chronic low back pain: relationship with stressful life events.

This study investigated the relationship between stressful life events and depressed mood in chronic low back pain (CLBP), using both self-report and observer-rated assessments of life happenings and depression. We hypothesized that CLBP patients with depressed mood (N = 15) would report significantly more untoward life events and ongoing life difficulties compared to CLBP patients without depressed mood (N = 17) and controls (N = 19). This prediction was confirmed. Subjects also were rated as being either in a high stress or low stress condition. Patients with depressed mood were more likely to be in the high stress condition than were either non-depressed patients or volunteers. Furthermore, the increased stress reported by the distressed group appeared to be a direct consequence of back pain-related life events, rather than from other life problems. We conclude that previously reported associations between life events and CLBP are a function of the relationship between stressful life events and depressive symptoms, which are prevalent in CLBP.