Abstract
One hundred male and 100 female chronic pain patients in a multidisciplinary pain clinic completed a 34-item Pain Coping Questionnaire (PCQ). Factor analysis identified four pain coping factors: self-management, helplessness, social support, and medical remedies. Multiple-regression analyses were conducted to determine the relation between PCQ factors and measures of adjustment at admission to the pain program as well as admission to discharge changes in adjustment measures. The following concepts relevant to coping with chronic pain were defined: cognitive strategies, self-efficacy, helplessness, catastrophizing, and cognitive distortion. Suggestions were made for integrating these concepts in the development of scales for assessing strategies for coping with chronic pain.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beck, A. T. (1967).Depression: Clinical, experimental, and theoretical aspects. New York: Harper & Row.
Beck, A. T., Weissman, A., Lester, D., & Trexler, L. (1974). The measurement of pessimism: The Hopelessness Scale.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42 861–865.
Billings, A. G., & Moos, R. H. (1981). The role of coping responses and social resources in attenuating the stress of life events.Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4 139–155.
Block, A. R. (1982). Multidisciplinary treatment of chronic low back pain: A review.Rehabilitation Psychology, 27 51–63.
Brown, G. K., & Nicassio, P. M. (1987). Development of a questionnaire for the assessment of active and passive coping strategies in chronic pain patients.Pain, 31 53–64.
Brown, G. K., Nicassio, P. M., & Wallston, K. A. (1989). Pain coping strategies and depression in rheumatoid arthritis.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57 652–657.
Crook, J., Tunks, E., Kalaher, S., & Roberts, J. (1988). Coping with persistent pain: A comparison of persistent pain sufferers in a specialty pain clinic and in a family practice clinic.Pain, 34 175–184.
Derogatis, L. R., & Spencer, P. M. (1982).Brief Symptom Inventory. Baltimore: Clinical Psychometric Research.
Dolce, J. J. (1987). Self-efficacy and disability beliefs in behavioral treatment of pain.Behavior Research and Therapy, 25 289–299.
Dolce, J. J., Crocker, M. F., & Doleys, D. M. (1986). Prediction of outcome among chronic pain patients.Behavior Research and Therapy, 24 313–319.
Fernandez, E., & Turk, D. C. (1989). The utility of cognitive coping strategies for altering pain perception: A meta-analysis.Pain, 38 123–135.
Follick, M. J., Ahern, D. K., Attanasio, V., & Riley, J. F. (1985). Chronic pain programs: Current aims, strategies, and needs.Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 7 12–20.
Fordyce, W. E. (1976).Behavioral methods in chronic pain and illness. St. Louis: C. V. Mosby.
Gil, K. M., Abrams, M. R., Phillips, G., & Keefe, F. J. (1989). Sickle cell disease pain: Relation of coping strategies to adjustment.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 57 725–731.
Gil, K. M., Williams, D. A., Keefe, F. J., & Beckham, J. C. (1990). The relationship of negative thoughts to pain and psychological distress.Behavior Therapy, 21 349–362.
Kaplan, H. B., Martin, S. S., & Robbins, D. (1984). Pathways to adolescent drug use: Self-derogation, peer influence, weakening of social controls, and early substance use.Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 25 270–289.
Keefe, F. J., Brown, G. K., Wallston, K. A., & Caldwell, D. S. (1989). Coping with rheumatoid arthritis pain: Catastrophizing as a maladaptive strategy.Pain, 37 51–56.
Keefe, F. J., Caldwell, D. S., Queen, K. T., Gil, K. M., Martinez, S., Crisson, J. E., Ogden, W., & Nunley, J. (1987a). Osteoarthritic knee pain: A behavioral analysis.Pain, 28 309–321.
Keefe, F. J., Caldwell, D. S., Queen, K. T., Gil, K. M., Martinez, S., Crisson, J. E., Ogden, W., & Nunley, J. (1987b). Pain coping strategies in osteoarthritis patients.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55 208–212.
Keefe, F. J., Caldwell, D. S., Williams, D. A., Gil, K. M., Mitchell, D., Robertson, C., Martinez, S., Nunley, J., Beckham, J. C., Crisson, J. E., & Helms, M. (1990). Pain coping skills training in the management of osteoarthritic knee pain: A comparative study.Behavior Therapy, 21 49–62.
Keefe, F. J., & Williams, D. A. (1989). New directions in pain assessment and treatment.Clinical Psychology Review, 9 549–568.
Kerns, R. D., Turk, D. C., & Holzman, A. D. (1983). Psychological treatment for chronic pain: A selective review.Clinical Psychology Review, 3 15–26.
Kerns, R. D., Turk, D. C., & Rudy, T. E. (1985). The West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (WHYMPI).Pain, 23 345–356.
Kleinke, C. L. (1987). Patients' preferences for pain treatment modalities in a multidisciplinary pain clinic.Rehabilitation Psychology, 32 113–120.
Lawson, K., Reesor, K. A., Keefe, F. J., & Turner, J. A. (1990). Dimensions of pain-related cognitive coping: Cross-validation of the factor structure of the Coping Strategy Questionnaire.Pain, 43 195–204.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984).Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.
McNair, D. M., Lorr, M. L., & Droppleman, L. F. (1971).Manual for the Profile of Mood States. San Diego: Educational and Industrial Testing Service.
Melzack, R. (1975). The McGill Pain Questionnaire: Major properties and scoring methods.Pain, 1 277–299.
Peck, J. R., Smith, T. W., Ward, J. R., & Milano, R. (1989). Disability and depression in rheumatoid arthritis: A multitrait-multimethod investigation.Arthritis and Rheumatism, 32 1100–1106.
Reesor, K. A., & Craig, K. D. (1988). Medically incongruent chronic back pain: Physical limitations, suffering, and ineffective coping.Pain, 32 35–45.
Rosenstiel, A. K., & Keefe, F. J. (1983). The use of coping strategies in chronic low back pain patients: Relationship to patient characteristics and current adjustment.Pain, 17 33–44.
Roy, R. (1984). Pain clinics: Reassessment of objectives and outcomes.Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 65 448–451.
Russell, D., Peplau, L. A., & Cutrona, C. E. (1980). The revised UCLA Loneliness Scale: Concurrent and discriminant validity evidence.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39 472–480.
Smith, T. W., Follick, M. J., Ahern, D. K., & Adams, A. (1986). Cognitive distortion and disability in chronic low back pain.Cognitive Therapy and Research, 10 201–210.
Smith, T. W., Peck, J. R., Milano, R. A., & Ward, J. R. (1988). Cognitive distortion in rheumatoid arthritis: Relation to depression and disability.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56 412–416.
Smith, T. W., Peck, J. R., & Ward, J. R. (1990). Helplessness and depression in rheumatoid arthritis.Health Psychology, 9 377–389.
Spangler, A. S., Jr. (1985). Treatment outcome of patients in a comprehensive pain program: Influence of hopelessness and depression.Dissertation Abstracts International. (University Microfilms No. 85-22, 968).
Turk, D. C., Holzman, A. D., & Kerns, R. D. (1986). Chronic pain. In K. A. Holroyd & T. L. Creer (Eds),Self-management of chronic disease (pp. 441–472). New York: Academic Press.
Turk, D. C., & Rudy, T. E. (1986). Assessment of cognitive factors in chronic pain: A worthwhile enterprise?Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 54 760–768.
Turner, J. A., & Clancy, S. (1986). Strategies for coping with chronic low back pain: Relationship to pain and disability.Pain, 24 355–364.
Turner, J. A., Clancy, S., & Vitaliano, P. P. (1987). Relationship of stress, appraisal and coping to chronic low back pain.Behavior Research and Therapy, 25 281–288.
Vitaliano, P. P. (1988).ADS and WCCL Manual. Seattle: University of Washington.
Wagner, J. W. (1982).Coping strategies in response to chronic pain: Effects on illness course. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, New School for Social Research, New York.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kleinke, C.L. How chronic pain patients cope with pain: Relation to treatment outcome in a multidisciplinary pain clinic. Cogn Ther Res 16, 669–685 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01175406
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01175406