Abstract
Relationships may influence adjustment to chronic pain conditions such as rheumatoid
arthritis (RA). We examined how both marital status and marital adjustment were related
to pain, physical disability, and psychological disability in 255 adults with RA.
Among married participants (n = 158), better marital adjustment (assessed using the
Locke-Wallace Marital Adjustment Scale) was correlated with less pain and physical
and psychological disability (all P values < .05). Married participants were divided into distressed (n = 44) and nondistressed
(n = 114) subgroups and compared with unmarried participants (n = 97). Controlling
for demographics and disease severity, unmarried participants had higher affective
pain (P = .009) and higher psychological disability (P = .02) than only the nondistressed married participants, but unmarried participants
did not differ from distressed married participants. These findings suggest that being
married in itself is not associated with better health in RA but that being in a well-adjusted
or nondistressed marriage is linked with less pain and better functioning.
Perspective
This study examined relationships of marital status and marital adjustment to pain
and physical and psychological disability in RA. Findings underscore the importance
of considering not only marital status but also degree of marital adjustment in RA
and may inform clinical interventions in this population.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: April 26, 2010
Accepted:
January 5,
2010
Received in revised form:
December 1,
2009
Received:
September 2,
2009
Footnotes
Supported by NIH grant R01 AR049059, and writing of the manuscript was supported in part by National Institute of Mental Health Clinical Research Training in Geriatric Mood Disorders, Grant (MH070448), and by American Cancer Society postdoctoral fellowship PF-09-154-01-CPPB awarded to Jennifer Barsky Reese. There are no conflicts of interest on the parts of any of the authors.
Identification
Copyright
© 2010 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
