Department of Health Psychology, University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands.
Department of Psychology, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
Clin J Pain. 2020 Oct;36(10):750-756. doi: 10.1097/AJP.0000000000000868.
Patients' pain behavior plays an important role in the interaction between patients and their partners, as acknowledged in operant models of pain. However, despite the considerable research attention to pain behaviors, the underlying motives of such behaviors are still unclear. The current study explores the motives to engage in pain behaviors and the possible discrepancies between individuals experiencing pain and partners' perceptions of those motives.
A qualitative study was performed, comprising semistructured interviews with 27 patients with chronic low back pain and their partners. They were recruited through purposive sampling at 2 pain clinics located in Tehran, Iran.
Patients and partners mentioned a variety of motives for pain behaviors, including protecting oneself against more pain, regulating negative emotions, informing others about the pain severity, seeking validation or intimacy, gaining advantages from pain, and expressing anger. Patients and partners revealed the most similarities in motives such as protecting oneself against more pain and informing others about the pain severity. However, partners rarely acknowledged patients' motives for seeking validation and they were more likely to mention negative motives (eg, expressing anger).
In conclusion, partners are more likely to attribute negative motives to the patient's pain behaviors, which may lead to their hostility toward patients. The findings of this study provide new insights into motives of pain behaviors from the perspective of patients and partners, which can inform couple-based interventions in terms of effective pain communication.
患者的疼痛行为在患者及其伴侣之间的相互作用中起着重要作用，这在操作性疼痛模型中得到了认可。然而，尽管对疼痛行为进行了相当多的研究，但这些行为的潜在动机仍不清楚。本研究探讨了参与疼痛行为的动机，以及个体经历疼痛和伴侣对这些动机的感知之间可能存在的差异。
本研究进行了一项定性研究，包括对 27 名慢性腰痛患者及其伴侣进行半结构式访谈。他们是通过在伊朗德黑兰的 2 家疼痛诊所进行目的性抽样招募的。
患者和伴侣提到了多种疼痛行为的动机，包括保护自己免受更多疼痛、调节负面情绪、向他人报告疼痛严重程度、寻求认可或亲密关系、从疼痛中获得优势以及表达愤怒。在保护自己免受更多疼痛和向他人报告疼痛严重程度等动机方面，患者和伴侣的看法最为相似。然而，伴侣很少承认患者寻求认可的动机，而更有可能提到负面动机（例如，表达愤怒）。
总之，伴侣更有可能将患者的疼痛行为归因于负面动机，这可能导致他们对患者产生敌意。本研究的结果从患者和伴侣的角度提供了对疼痛行为动机的新见解，这可以为基于夫妻的干预措施提供有效的疼痛沟通方面提供信息。
