Gascho, Keith

Background. Comorbid chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) complicate the treatment of both conditions. Previous research has identified pain catastrophizing as a potentially important variable contributing to the relationship between chronic pain and PTSD. However, little is known regarding how the different dimensions of pain catastrophizing—rumination, magnification, and helplessness—uniquely contribute to the relationship between PTSD symptomatology and measures of pain outcome. Methods. 491 treatment seeking participants were admitted to a three-week interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation program between July 2016 and March 2020. The patients completed measures of pain severity, pain interference, pain catastrophizing, depressive symptoms, quality of life (QOL), and PTSD symptoms at pretreatment. Results. Parallel mediation analyses were conducted to evaluate the mediating effect of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale subscales on the relationship between PTSD symptomatology and pain-relevant variables. The helplessness subscale accounted for significant unique variance in the relationship between PTSD symptomatology and pain severity (b = 0.010, SE = 0.002, 95% CI: 0.006, 0.014), pain interference (b = 0.004, SE = 0.002, 95% CI: 0.001, 0.008), and mental health QOL (b = −0.117, SE = 0.031, 95% CI: −0.179, −0.059), while the rumination and magnification subscales had no significant influence. Conclusions. Pain catastrophizing is a multifaceted construct. These results suggest that the helplessness dimension of pain catastrophizing may be the primary target when treating patients with comorbid chronic pain and PTSD symptoms. This study represents the first to evaluate the influence of the individual dimensions of pain catastrophizing on the relationship between PTSD symptomatology and chronic pain outcome.

Abstract Background Decreasing pain catastrophizing and improving self-efficacy to self-manage chronic pain symptoms are important treatment targets in the context of interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation. Greater pain catastrophizing has been shown to be associated with greater impact of pain symptoms on functioning; conversely, greater pain self-efficacy has been associated with lower pain intensity and lower levels of disability. Objective To prospectively evaluate interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation outcomes, as well as to evaluate the mediating effects of both pain catastrophizing and pain self-efficacy on outcome. Methods Participants were 315 patients with chronic pain between April 2017 and April 2018 who completed a 3-week interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation program. Pain severity, pain interference, pain catastrophizing, pain self-efficacy, quality of life, depressive symptom questionnaires, and measures of physical performance were assessed before and after treatment. Follow-up questionnaires were returned by 163 participants. Effect size and reliable change analyses were conducted from pre- to posttreatment and from pretreatment to 6-month follow-up. Mediation analyses were conducted to determine the mediating effect of pain catastrophizing and pain self-efficacy on pain outcome. Results Significant improvements from pre- to posttreatment in pain outcomes were observed, and more than 80% evidenced a reliable change in at least one pain-relevant measure. Pain catastrophizing and pain self-efficacy mediated the relationship between changes in pain outcomes. Conclusions Interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation is an effective treatment, and decreasing pain catastrophizing and increasing pain self-efficacy can influence maintenance of treatment gains.

Objective: Coprevalence of chronic pain and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) negatively impacts the course of both disorders. Patients diagnosed with both conditions report greater pain, affective distress, and disability when compared with those with either chronic pain or PTSD alone. While the prevalence and complexity of the comorbidity is widely acknowledged, there is a dearth of research examining potential mechanism variables that might account for the relationship between chronic pain and PTSD. The current study utilizes a series of mediation analyses to examine if pain catastrophizing mediates the relationship between PTSD symptomatology and chronic pain outcome. Materials and Methods: A total of 203 treatment-seeking participants admitted to a 3-week interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation program completed a battery of psychometrically validated measures of pain severity, pain interference, pain catastrophizing, depressive symptoms, and PTSD symptoms at program admission. Results: A series of multiple parallel mediation analyses revealed that pain catastrophizing fully mediated the relationships between PTSD symptoms and pain outcome (ie, pain severity and pain interference) above and beyond the influence of depressive symptoms. Discussion: Results suggest that pain catastrophizing may represent an important cognitive mechanism through which PTSD symptoms influence the experience of chronic pain. Psychosocial treatment approaches that directly target tendency to catastrophize in response to pain may hold the potential to have salutary effects on both chronic pain and PTSD.