Self-regulation during a pain management programme
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The impact of daily variation in self-regulatory capacity on goal pursuit: a series of n-of-1 studies of chronic pain during a pain management programme
IRAS ID
239909
Contact name
Diane Dixon
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Strathclyde
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 31 days
Research summary
The sensory experience of pain, as well as pain-related cognitions and distress, interrupts activities by commanding attention. These demands can make self-regulation, the ability to control thoughts, feelings and behaviour, more difficult. Excessive demands can lead to a reduction in capacity to self-regulate, known as self-regulatory fatigue. Evidence that people with chronic pain experience more self-regulatory fatigue than healthy controls has come from experimental studies. These compare groups of people with chronic pain to groups of healthy controls, allowing for the study of between group differences. However, this information does not provide an understanding of day-to-day self-regulation within individuals and the impact of experiencing self-regulatory fatigue on physical functioning and goal pursuit. This is crucial to better understand how people experiencing pain manage that pain within the context of their daily lives. Moreover, it is unknown whether engaging in a pain management programme will change levels of self-regulatory fatigue within individuals, what the mechanisms of change would be, and whether changes in self-regulatory fatigue are associated with changes in functioning. Therefore, the current study will use an n-of-1 design to study day-to-day self-regulation in people with chronic pain recruited from a pain management programme. Participants will be asked to complete baseline measures of pain, pain self-efficacy, self-regulatory fatigue, implicit theories of willpower, physical functioning, symptoms of depression and anxiety and fear of movement. Participants will also be asked to provide self-report daily diaries of measures of pain intensity, self-regulatory fatigue, self-efficacy, mood, daily demands, use of PRN (when required) medication and goal motivation, effort, performance and striving. The participants will be asked to wear an activity monitor daily and provide two diary entries per day from week 1 of the pain management programme to week 12. The participants will be asked to complete the baseline measures again at week 12.
REC name
South West - Central Bristol Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
18/SW/0076
Date of REC Opinion
3 Apr 2018
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion