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Illness Perceptions, Negative Emotions, and Pain in Patients with Noncardiac Chest Pain

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Abstract

Illness-specific cognitions are associated with outcomes in numerous health conditions, however, little is known about their role in noncardiac chest pain (NCCP). NCCP is prevalent, impairing, and associated with elevated health care utilization. Our objective was to investigate the relations between illness perceptions, emotion, and pain in a sample of 196 adult patients diagnosed with NCCP. We found that negative illness perceptions were associated with greater anxiety, depression, chest pain, and pain-related life interference while controlling for the effects of demographic and pain-related variables. These results expand current NCCP theory and may inform future treatment development.

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Acknowledgments

This article was supported in part by Grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH63185) and the University of Missouri–St. Louis (University Research Award) awarded to Kamila S. White.

Conflict of Interest

Jared I. Israel, Kamila S White, and Ernest V. Gervino declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Human and Animal Rights and Informed Consent

All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committees on human experimentation of the University of Missouri–St. Louis, Boston University, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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  1. Department of Psychology, University of Missouri–St. Louis, One University Boulevard, 325 Stadler Hall, St. Louis, MO, 63121, USA

    Jared I. Israel & Kamila S. White

  2. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA

    Ernest V. Gervino

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  1. Jared I. Israel
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  2. Kamila S. White
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Correspondence to Jared I. Israel.

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Israel, J.I., White, K.S. & Gervino, E.V. Illness Perceptions, Negative Emotions, and Pain in Patients with Noncardiac Chest Pain. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 22, 77–89 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-015-9419-6

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