Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco. San Francisco, CA, USA.
Department of Sociology, University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Buffalo, NY, USA.
Soc Sci Med. 2022 Oct;310:115215. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115215. Epub 2022 Jul 19.
This study examines how onset of chronic pain affects characteristics of personal social networks among adults aged 51+ across Europe.
We used population-based data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE; 2011-2015; n = 12,647). Using a change score analysis approach, we tracked changes in personal social networks of respondents experiencing new-onset chronic pain (n = 3803) compared to pain-free counterparts (n = 8844) in 11 European countries over four years.
Overall, consistent with network activation theory, respondents with new-onset mild-to-moderate chronic pain reported increases in sizes and diversity of their personal social networks, compared to their pain-free counterparts. However, consistent with the "pain as threat to the social self" theory, respondents with new-onset moderate pain or mild-to-moderate pain reported a decrease over time in perceived satisfaction and closeness with networks, respectively. Estimates from interactions between new-onset pain severity and sex show that men with new-onset pain experienced greater decreases in network satisfaction (mild pain) and closeness (severe pain) than did women.
This study highlights the complex social consequences of chronic pain, which may vary based on pain severity, gender, and type of social outcome considered.
本研究考察了慢性疼痛的发作如何影响欧洲 51 岁及以上成年人的个人社交网络特征。
我们使用了欧洲健康、衰老和退休调查（SHARE；2011-2015 年；n=12647）中的基于人群的数据。使用变化分数分析方法，我们追踪了在 11 个欧洲国家的 4 年期间，经历新发慢性疼痛（n=3803）的受访者与无痛对照组（n=8844）的个人社交网络变化。
总体而言，与网络激活理论一致，与无痛对照组相比，新发轻度至中度慢性疼痛的受访者报告说，他们的个人社交网络的规模和多样性有所增加。然而，与“疼痛是对社交自我的威胁”理论一致，新发中度疼痛或轻度至中度疼痛的受访者报告说，他们对网络的满意度和亲密感随时间逐渐下降。新发疼痛严重程度和性别之间的交互作用的估计表明，新发疼痛的男性比女性经历了更大的网络满意度（轻度疼痛）和亲密感（严重疼痛）下降。
本研究强调了慢性疼痛的复杂社会后果，这些后果可能因疼痛严重程度、性别和考虑的社会结果类型而异。
