Exploring Chronic Pain and Depression
Research type
Research Study
Full title
An exploratory analysis of the roles of Emotional Regulation, Valued Living and Social Connectedness in the relationship between Chronic Pain and Depression
IRAS ID
301861
Contact name
Christine Campbell
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Edinburgh
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 1 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Chronic pain is often poorly understood - sometimes when the initial injury or source of pain goes away, the pain continues. Sometimes the pain gets worse. Individuals may end up trapped in a cycle of increasing treatments without decreasing pain.Many people with chronic pain experience depression. Depression can make chronic pain even more complicated to treat and so it is important to understand what may link chronic pain and depression.
If clinicians understand this link better and importantly who is more affected, it may mean that clinicians can direct patients towards more targeted treatments earlier in the treatment process.
The study looks at three areas that the researchers believe are linked between chronic pain and depression. The areas are social connectedness, emotional regulation and valued living.
Social connectedness is the degree to which we connect with others – this may be individuals or groups around us. Humans are social creatures and social interactions happen constantly. Emotional regulation looks at the degree to which we are able to regulate our emotions. For some people this is easy but for others this is more difficult. Valued living is about knowing what we want out of life and then making a commitment to ourselves to take action in service of those values.
To do this, all individuals who are referred to the Pain Service will be invited to participate in this research. Choosing not to participate will not affect their treatment at the Pain Service.
Alongside the questionnaires that are normally completed for the Pain Service, those choosing to participate will be invited to complete an additional 3 questionnaires, returning all questionnaires to the Pain Service. The results of the questionnaires will then be anonymised and used in this research.
Summary of Results
Chronic pain is pain that lasts over three months. It is a common difficulty and can require complex management. How we measure chronic pain is important. One way of measuring chronic pain is to look at ‘Pain Interference.’ Pain Interference is the degree to which pain interferes with daily activities such as relationships, work, and even mood. Chronic pain and depression are often seen together, and existing research indicates that when an individual with chronic pain has depression, their recovery is more difficult. Therefore, looking at the possible factors that link pain interference and depression in individuals with living with chronic pain could open new avenues for treatment.The study looked at how pain interference may lead to depression in individuals with chronic pain. Individuals with chronic pain completed questionnaires on emotion regulation, valued living, and group identification. Prior research has indicated that these three factors may contribute to depression. Emotion regulation was measured by looking at a type of emotion regulation strategy called cognitive reappraisal (altering your emotional response to an experience by changing your thoughts). Previous research has shown that because pain interferes with a person’s thinking, there is less ability to use complex emotion regulation strategies such as cognitive reappraisal; prior research has also shown that underutilisation of cognitive reappraisal can lead to depression. Valued living was measured by considering two concepts: “progress in valued living” (being aware of what really matters to you and making attempts to live in accordance with this) and “obstruction to valued living” (barriers that prevent you living your life in accordance with what really matters to you). Group identification was measured by considering an individual’s general sense of belonging in their family, community, and a social group of their choosing. The results from the empirical project showed that, separately, cognitive reappraisal, obstruction to valued living and group identification could partially explain the relationship between pain interference and depression. This means that these factors could be key areas to target in treatment for depression in individuals with chronic pain.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 2
REC reference
22/ES/0009
Date of REC Opinion
14 Apr 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion