The psychological functioning in the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with psychological flexibility and broader functioning in people with chronic pain

Article

Yu, L., Kioskli, K. and McCracken, L. 2021. The psychological functioning in the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with psychological flexibility and broader functioning in people with chronic pain. The Journal of Pain. 22 (8), pp. 926-939. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2021.02.011
TypeArticle
TitleThe psychological functioning in the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with psychological flexibility and broader functioning in people with chronic pain
AuthorsYu, L., Kioskli, K. and McCracken, L.
Abstract

Aims: People with chronic pain may be particularly vulnerable to the impact of the pandemic COVID-19, and psychological flexibility may protect them. This study investigates psychological functioning in the context of COVID-19, including fear and avoidance in the context of COVID-19, specifically its association with daily functioning, and the role of psychological flexibility, among people with chronic pain.
Methods: Responses from 555 adults with chronic pain were collected through a cross-sectional online survey and analysed.
Results: Eight out of ten participants reported significant depression and nearly nine out of ten reported significant functional impairment. COVID-19-related fear and avoidance significantly correlated with pain, pain-related disability, depression, and work and social adjustment (r=18-.32), as well as psychological flexibility processes, including pain acceptance, self-as-context, and committed action, |r|=.13-.30. COVID-19-related fear and avoidance and COVID-19-related interference were significant predictors of some measures of daily functioning beyond demographics and pain, β=.09-.14. However, these associations weakened when psychological flexibility processes were factored into the models, with fear of COVID-19 no longer being a significant predictor of pain-related disability or depression, and COVID-19 avoidance no longer a significant predictor of depression.
Conclusions: The psychological functioning in the context of COVID-19 appears to be negatively associated with daily functioning in people with chronic pain, and is statistically significant in this regard. Psychological flexibility may have a role in these associations for people with chronic pain in the pandemic.

KeywordsCOVID-19; anxiety; fear and avoidance; psychological flexibility; chronic pain
Research GroupApplied Health Psychology group
PublisherElsevier
JournalThe Journal of Pain
ISSN1526-5900
Electronic1528-8447
Publication dates
Online03 Mar 2021
Print06 Aug 2021
Publication process dates
Deposited06 Apr 2021
Accepted18 Feb 2021
Submitted23 Nov 2020
Output statusPublished
Accepted author manuscript
License
File Access Level
Open
Copyright Statement

© 2021 by United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Web address (URL)https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1526590021000328
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2021.02.011
Web of Science identifierWOS:000683573100005
LanguageEnglish
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