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Background: Despite the relevance of daily function in individuals with chronic pain, few questionnaires have been designed to assess this domain in individuals with musculoskeletal pain. In addition, the Impairment and Functioning Inventory-Revised (IFI-R) is the only instrument that assesses perceived decreases in levels of daily activity after the onset of pain. Objective: To evaluate the psychometric properties of the English version of the IFI-R. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: A database of individuals with medical conditions commonly associated with chronic pain maintained by the University of Washington. Patients: A total of 470 individuals with chronic pain. Methods: Factorial validity was analyzed by conducting a confirmatory factor analysis via structural equation modeling. Internal consistency was evaluated by calculating Cronbach's α coefficients. Convergent validity was assessed by calculating Pearson correlation coefficients between the two scales of the IFI-R and the Patient Reported Outcome Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Pain Interference Scale. Criterion validity was analyzed by regression analysis via structural equation modeling. Main Outcome Measures: The English version of the IFI-R (IFI-R-EV) for individuals with chronic pain. Results: The IFI-R-EV consists of 30 items with two related subscales: The Daily Function subscale (α = .86). and the Impairment subscale (α = .89). A significant correlation was found between these subscales and a measure of pain interference (r's = -.33, and .35 respectively; p's < .01). We also found statistically significant associations (p < .05) between daily function and depression (β = -.14) and pain intensity (β = -.13), between impairment and depression (β = .14) and pain intensity (β = .16), and between daily function and pain acceptance (β = .14). Conclusions: The findings indicate that the IFI-R-EV provides valid and reliable measures of daily function and impairment in English-speaking individuals with a disability and chronic pain. These results are consistent with those obtained with the Spanish version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Many questions regarding the process by which self-enhancing humour style has an effect on chronic pain individuals' adjustment remain unanswered. The aim of the present study was to analyse the association of self-enhancing humour style with adjustment in a sample of individuals with chronic pain, over and above the role of catastrophizing and pain intensity. Adjustment was assessed using measures of depression, pain interference and flourishing. We also examined the indirect association between self-enhancing humour style and adjustment via pain acceptance.Methods: The study included 427 patients with heterogeneous chronic pain conditions. The study hypotheses were tested using three multiple linear regression analyses, one for each of the criterion variables.Results: Consistent with the study hypothesis, both direct and indirect associations were found between self-enhancing humour style and depressive symptoms, pain interference and flourishing via pain acceptance.Conclusions: Self-enhancing humour style could potentially help individuals with chronic pain to gain perspective and distance themselves from the situation through the acceptance of pain-related negative emotions.Significance: Very few studies have investigated the relationship between humour styles and adjustment in chronic pain samples. The results of the current study support the idea that adaptive dispositional traits, such as patient's self- enhancing humour style, play a role in the adaptation of individuals with chronic pain. Given that the association between self-enhancing humour style and adjustment evidenced an indirect association through pain acceptance, training in the use of humour, as individuals with self-enhancing humour style do, might be a useful addition to ACT treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traumatic experiences have consistently been linked to poor health and well‐being, particularly in women. Psychological factors have been theorized to directly affect the reporting of physical symptoms and perceptions of general health. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been proposed as a major pathway through which trauma affects health and emotion dysregulation. Trauma is considered to be a key psychological variable in the pathogenesis of PTSD. Fortunately, not all women who have experienced trauma manifest adverse effects. Resilience acts as a psychological protective variable following trauma. The present study tested a hypothetical model of the contribution of resilience, emotional dysregulation, and PTSD symptoms to physical and psychological well‐being in a large sample of trauma‐exposed women. A transversal study with 753 female participants is used. Structural modeling was used to test linear associations between variables. After experiencing trauma, resilience was negatively and significantly associated with emotional dysregulation, which, in turn, was positively associated with PTSD symptoms. Both resilience and PTSD symptoms were associated with physical and psychological well‐being. The results suggest that resilience and emotional dysregulation are relevant to the health and well‐being of women with PTSD symptoms and may help guide the development of psychological treatment in this group. Therefore, these findings may be relevant in promoting health and well‐being in such women, and may help to identify individuals who would receive the most benefit from interventions addressing emotional regulation and psychological resilience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The COVID‐19 crisis is a significant stressor worldwide. The physical and emotional condition of individuals with pain sensitization syndromes who are experiencing the pandemic may worsen. This study investigated the contribution of life changes due to the coronavirus to emotional distress in individuals with a diagnosis of chronic central sensitization pain and tested whether the associations between level of pain and sensitization were independent of or mediated by emotional distress. Methods: Spanish individuals with chronic pain (N = 362) completed an online survey on direct or indirect exposure to the consequences of COVID‐19, pain intensity, and emotional distress. They also completed central sensitization questionnaires. Results: An association was found between changes in daily routines and pain intensity, emotional distress, and sensitization scores. Correlations were found between emotional distress, sensitization, and pain intensity. Significant predictors of emotional distress were age, difficulty in receiving medical care, changes in daily routines, and diminished social support. Emotional distress did not mediate the association between sensitization and pain intensity. Conclusion: Due to the COVID‐19 situation, individuals with central sensitization pain syndromes may be at higher risk of developing psychological distress. Interdisciplinary interventions involving psychologists are urgently needed to provide this population with appropriate health care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms have been theorized to mediate the relationship between trauma exposure and physical health symptoms. Although empirical evidence supports this premise, studies conducted to date have employed statistical mediation analyses that are now broadly criticized. Furthermore, the mediating roles of both PTSD and depressive symptoms have seldom been examined concurrently, and it remains unclear which PTSD symptom clusters uniquely mediate this relationship. The aim of the present study was to examine the mediating role of reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, hyperarousal, and depressive symptoms in the relationship between trauma exposure and physical health symptoms. Participants were 516 Spanish female undergraduate students. Physical health symptoms were compared between those who reported trauma exposure ( n = 266) and those who did not ( n = 250). Data from trauma-exposed participants were analyzed using regression models with bootstrapping to test mediation. Results of the analyses showed that the trauma-exposed group reported significantly more physical health symptoms ( r2 = .035). Hyperarousal and depressive symptoms uniquely mediated the relationship between trauma exposure and physical health symptoms. Our findings clarify some of the mechanisms by which negative health consequences occur subsequent to trauma exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary aim was to investigate how respiration rate and inhalation/exhalation ratio influence self‐reported state anxiety during a single slow diaphragmatic breathing exercise session. Eight hundred and twenty‐eight participants completed the study at two separate geographical locations (Poland and Spain). Participants performed a 10‐min online guided breathing exercise. Respiration rates were sampled from a continuous uniform distribution (ranging from 6 to 12 breaths/min). Similarly, inhalation/exhalation ratios were treated as continuous variables and sampled from a uniform distribution for each participant. An application programed for this experiment displayed visual and auditory cues adjusted for each participant. Before and after the breathing exercise, each participant filled in the Current Anxiety Level Measure questionnaire. Self‐trait anxiety was measured with the Clinically Useful Anxiety Outcome Scale. A linear regression model showed that respiration rate, trait anxiety, pre‐test anxiety, and nationality (Polish/Spanish) were positively related to post‐test anxiety levels. Adding quadratic terms of respiration rate and inhalation/exhalation ratio did not improve model fit. Polish participants exhibited higher post‐test anxiety levels compared with the Spanish subsample. Age was negatively associated with post‐test anxiety. No significant relationships between inhalation/exhalation ratio and post‐test anxiety level were found. Slower respiration rates during a single‐session breathing exercise are linearly associated with lower post‐test anxiety levels in a large and varied sample. This study is the largest to date and may offer further guidance for predicting expected effect sizes for the relationships between anxiety and respiratory dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]