Claes Nathalie, Vlaeyen Johan W S, Lauwerier Emelien, Meulders Michel, Crombez Geert
Research Group Health Psychology, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
PeerJ. 2018 Aug 15;6:e5272. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5272. eCollection 2018.
When suffering from chronic pain, attempts to control or avoid pain often compete with other daily activities. Engaging in one activity excludes engaging in another, equally valued activity, which is referred to as "goal conflict." As yet, the presence and effects of goal conflicts in patients with chronic pain remain poorly understood.
This study systematically mapped the presence and experience of goal conflicts in patients with fibromyalgia compared to healthy controls. A total of 40 patients and 37 controls completed a semi-structured interview in which they first reconstructed the previous day, identified conflicts experienced during that day, and classified each of the conflicting goals in one of nine goal categories. Additionally, they assessed how they experienced the previous day and the reported conflicts.
Results showed that patients did not experience more goal conflicts than healthy controls, but that they did differ in the type of conflicts experienced. Compared to controls, patients reported more conflicts related to pain, and fewer conflicts involving work-related, social or pleasure-related goals. Moreover, patients experienced conflicts as more aversive and more difficult to resolve than control participants.
This study provides more insight in the dynamics of goal conflict in daily life, and indicates that patients experience conflict as more aversive than controls, and that conflict between pain control (and avoidance) and other valued activities is part of the life of patients.
患有慢性疼痛时，控制或避免疼痛的尝试往往会与其他日常活动相互竞争。参与一项活动就意味着无法参与另一项同样有价值的活动，这被称为“目标冲突”。迄今为止，慢性疼痛患者中目标冲突的存在及其影响仍未得到充分理解。
本研究系统地描绘了纤维肌痛患者与健康对照者中目标冲突的存在情况及体验。共有40名患者和37名对照者完成了一项半结构化访谈，他们首先回顾前一天的经历，识别当天经历的冲突，并将每个冲突目标归入九个目标类别中的一类。此外，他们评估了自己对前一天以及所报告冲突的感受。
结果显示，患者经历的目标冲突并不比健康对照者多，但他们经历的冲突类型有所不同。与对照者相比，患者报告的与疼痛相关的冲突更多，而涉及工作、社交或娱乐相关目标的冲突更少。此外，与对照参与者相比，患者觉得冲突更令人厌恶且更难解决。
本研究为日常生活中目标冲突的动态变化提供了更多见解，并表明患者比对照者更厌恶冲突，且疼痛控制（及避免）与其他有价值活动之间的冲突是患者生活的一部分。
