Psychology Division, School of Arts & Humanities, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup 6027, Australia.
Department of Clinical Health Psychology, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, Southport L34 1PJ, UK.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan 10;20(2):1278. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20021278.
Chronic pain, experienced as pain persisting for three months or longer, is associated with risk of poor mental health and disability. Research has implicated adaptive goal processes as important to mental wellbeing in a range of populations. However, research has rarely assessed these mechanisms in relation to pain characteristics and mental wellbeing in chronic pain populations. This study aimed to examine the potentially mediating roles of goal flexibility and goal tenacity in the relationships between pain intensity and pain interference and mental wellbeing among individuals with chronic pain. Community members who self-identified as experiencing non-cancer chronic pain ( = 315) completed an online self-report survey on goal tenacity, goal flexibility, mental wellbeing, pain intensity, and pain interference. Unexpectedly, pain intensity was not significantly related to mental wellbeing, when controlling for pain interference. However, pain interference was directly and significantly associated with mental wellbeing. Both goal flexibility and goal tenacity mediated the relationship between pain interference and mental wellbeing, whilst controlling for pain intensity. The results provide support for the protective role of adaptive goal processes in mental wellbeing in those with chronic pain and highlight the importance of pain interference in relation to mental wellbeing.
慢性疼痛是指疼痛持续三个月或更长时间，与心理健康不良和残疾风险相关。研究表明，适应性目标过程对于各种人群的心理健康都很重要。然而，很少有研究评估这些机制与慢性疼痛人群的疼痛特征和心理健康之间的关系。本研究旨在检验目标灵活性和目标坚定性在慢性疼痛个体的疼痛强度和疼痛干扰与心理健康之间的关系中的潜在中介作用。自我认同为患有非癌症慢性疼痛的社区成员（=315）完成了一项在线自我报告调查，内容涉及目标坚定性、目标灵活性、心理健康、疼痛强度和疼痛干扰。出乎意料的是，在控制疼痛干扰的情况下，疼痛强度与心理健康无关。然而，疼痛干扰与心理健康直接且显著相关。在控制疼痛强度的情况下，目标灵活性和目标坚定性都可以调节疼痛干扰与心理健康之间的关系。研究结果为慢性疼痛患者中适应性目标过程在心理健康中的保护作用提供了支持，并强调了疼痛干扰与心理健康之间的关系的重要性。
