Yu Lin, McCracken Lance M
Department of Psychology, Middlesex University, London NW4 4BT, UK.
Department of Psychology, Uppsala University, 752 37 Uppsala, Sweden.
Clin Pract. 2025 Jun 25;15(7):119. doi: 10.3390/clinpract15070119.
Persistent symptoms following COVID-19 may adversely impact the general mental health of people with chronic pain, and psychological flexibility may buffer these impacts. However, it remains unclear whether such lasting implications of COVID-19 differ between people with and without chronic pain. This study investigated the relationships between persistent symptoms post-COVID-19, psychological flexibility, and general mental health among people with and without persistent pain during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. A total of 204 adults living in the UK were recruited via social media and completed an online survey, including measures of persistent symptoms, depression (Patient Health Questionnaire-9), anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder-7), insomnia (the Insomnia Severity Index), and psychological flexibility (the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory), and were included in the analyses. Participants with persistent pain (n = 70) experienced more-persistent symptoms, poorer general mental health, and a higher level of psychological inflexibility compared with participants without persistent pain (n = 133). Overall, the relationships between persistent physical symptoms, general mental health, and psychological (in)flexibility showed similar patterns in the two groups. Participants with more-persistent physical symptoms experienced significantly poorer general mental health. Furthermore, people with higher levels of psychological inflexibility reported worse general mental health. There was little evidence that psychological (in)flexibility could "buffer" the association between persistent physical symptoms and general mental health. People with chronic pain appear more vulnerable to persistent symptoms and reduced general mental health compared with people without pain. Treatments that reduce psychological inflexibility, such as ACT, may improve outcomes for people with persistent symptoms post-COVID-19.
新冠病毒病（COVID-19）后的持续症状可能会对慢性疼痛患者的总体心理健康产生不利影响，而心理灵活性可能会缓冲这些影响。然而，目前尚不清楚COVID-19的这种长期影响在有慢性疼痛和无慢性疼痛的人群中是否存在差异。本研究调查了在英国COVID-19大流行期间，有和没有持续疼痛的人群中，COVID-19后持续症状、心理灵活性和总体心理健康之间的关系。通过社交媒体招募了204名居住在英国的成年人，他们完成了一项在线调查，包括持续症状、抑郁（患者健康问卷-9）、焦虑（广泛性焦虑障碍-7）、失眠（失眠严重程度指数）和心理灵活性（多维心理灵活性量表）的测量，并纳入分析。与无持续疼痛的参与者（n = 133）相比，有持续疼痛的参与者（n = 70）经历了更多的持续症状、更差的总体心理健康和更高水平的心理僵化。总体而言，两组中持续身体症状、总体心理健康和心理（不）灵活性之间的关系呈现出相似的模式。有更多持续身体症状的参与者总体心理健康明显较差。此外，心理僵化程度较高的人总体心理健康状况较差。几乎没有证据表明心理（不）灵活性可以“缓冲”持续身体症状与总体心理健康之间的关联。与无疼痛的人相比，慢性疼痛患者似乎更容易出现持续症状和总体心理健康下降。减少心理僵化的治疗方法，如接受与承诺疗法（ACT），可能会改善COVID-19后有持续症状患者的治疗效果。
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