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Pain catastrophizing and distress intolerance: prediction of pain and emotional stress reactivity

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Abstract

Exposure to stress is associated with poor outcomes in people with chronic pain. Dispositional variables, such as pain catastrophizing and distress intolerance, may impact reactivity to stressors. Importantly, these variables can be modified with treatment. The aim of this study was to investigate whether pain catastrophizing and distress intolerance were associated with tolerance of a pain stressor or a psychosocial stressor, and heightened negative affect following these stressors. A sample of 50 adults with chronic pain completed self-report measures and pain and psychosocial stress inductions. Results indicated that pain catastrophizing was associated with heightened anxiety during pain induction. Distress intolerance was associated with negative affect following a psychosocial stressor, and with poorer tolerance of the psychosocial stressor. Pain catastrophizing and distress intolerance are related factors, however, they exhibit distinct associations with amplification of pain and psychosocial stress reactivity. These variables may be important treatment targets in people with chronic pain.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant Numbers DA034102 and DA035297).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, McLean Hospital, Proctor House 3, MS 222, 115 Mill Street, Belmont, MA, 02148, USA

    R. Kathryn McHugh, Elizabeth T. Kneeland & Roger D. Weiss

  2. Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    R. Kathryn McHugh, Elizabeth T. Kneeland & Roger D. Weiss

  3. Pain Management Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, USA

    Robert R. Edwards & Robert Jamison

  4. Department of Anesthesiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA

    Robert R. Edwards & Robert Jamison

Authors
  1. R. Kathryn McHugh
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  2. Elizabeth T. Kneeland
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  3. Robert R. Edwards
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  4. Robert Jamison
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  5. Roger D. Weiss
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Correspondence to R. Kathryn McHugh.

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Conflict of interest

Dr. Weiss has been a consultant to Indivior, Alkermes, Braeburn Pharmaceuticals, GW Pharmaceuticals, US World Meds, Janssen Pharmaceuticals and Daiichi Sankyo. Drs. McHugh, Kneeland, Edwards and Jamison report no potential conflicts of interest relevant to this manuscript.

Human and animal rights and informed consent

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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McHugh, R.K., Kneeland, E.T., Edwards, R.R. et al. Pain catastrophizing and distress intolerance: prediction of pain and emotional stress reactivity. J Behav Med 43, 623–629 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-019-00086-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-019-00086-5

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