Abstract
This study examined the extent to which components of empathy (ie, empathic accuracy,
empathic tendencies, and empathic responses) were correlated within the context of
chronic pain couples. Additionally, the interrelationships between these empathy variables
and spouse responses to pain were investigated. Participants were 57 couples in which
at least 1 spouse reported chronic musculoskeletal pain. Each couple participated
in a videotaped interaction about the impact of pain in their lives together, after
which they completed an empathic accuracy procedure. The interactions were coded for
the spouse’s use of empathic responses. Couples also completed surveys about pain
severity, pain interference, empathic tendencies, marital satisfaction, and perceived
spousal responses (ie, solicitous and punishing responses) to pain. Spousal empathic
responses and empathic accuracy were not related to one another nor were they related
to spousal empathic tendencies, or solicitous spouse responses. Spousal punishing
responses were negatively related to empathic responses. The association between solicitousness
and empathic responses was moderated by spousal marital satisfaction. The findings
suggest that there are not clear associations among these empathy variables. The results
also indicate that the climate in which solicitousness is provided may influence the
extent to which spouses display empathic responses.
Perspective
The findings have implications for models of pain empathy and suggest that future
research is needed to understand relations between aspects of empathy. Moreover, interventions
aimed at addressing the empathic climate in which support is delivered may help spouses
more empathically and effectively communicate with and assist partners with pain management.
Key words
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to The Journal of PainAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- The case for mindfulness-based approaches in the cultivation of empathy: Does nonjudgmental, present-moment awareness increase capacity for perspective-taking and empathic concern?.J Marital Fam Ther. 2007; 33: 501-516
- Pain-related catastrophizing and perceived social responses: Inter-relationships in the context of chronic pain.Pain. 2007; 127: 234-242
- Empathic and nonempathic interaction in chronic pain couples.Clin J Pain. 2008; 24: 678-684
- Marital functioning, chronic pain, and psychological distress.Pain. 2004; 107: 99-106
- Integrative behavioral couple therapy for chronic pain: Promoting behavior change and emotional acceptance.J Clin Psychol. 2006; : 1409-1418
- Social interaction in pain: Reinforcing pain behaviors or building intimacy?.Pain. 2010; 149: 9-11
- Traditional versus integrative behavioral couple therapy for significantly and chronically distressed married couples.J Consult Clin Psychol. 2004; 72: 176-191
- Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach.J Pers Soc Psychol. 1983; 10: 113-126
- A multidimensional approach to individual differences in empathy.JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology. 1980; 10: 85
- Dissecting the neural mechanisms mediating empathy.Emot Rev. 2011; 3: 92-108
- Empathy: Conceptualization, measurement, and relation to prosocial behavior.Motiv Emot. 1990; 14: 131-149
- The role of spouse reinforcement, perceived pain, and activity levels of chronic pain patients.J Psychosom Res. 1987; 31: 251-259
- Observational biases in spouse observation: Toward a cognitive/behavioral model of marriage.J Consult Clin Psychol. 1983; 51: 450-457
- Mini-mental state: A practical method for grading the state of patients for the clinician.J Psychiatr Res. 1975; 31: 251-259
- Behavioral Methods for Chronic Pain and Illness.The C.V. Mosby Company, St. Louis, MO1976
Fruzzetti AE: Validation and Invalidation Coding System. Unpublished manuscript 2001
- Mindfulness, acceptance, validation, and “individual” psychopathology in couples.in: Hayes S.C. Follette V.M. Linehan M.M. Mindfulness and Acceptance: Expanding the Cognitive-Behavioral Tradition. Guilford Press, New York, NY2004: 168-191
- Intervening with couples and families to treat emotion dysregulation and psychopathology.in: Snyder D.K. Simpson J. Hughes J.N. Emotion Regulation in Couples and Families: Pathways to Dysfunction and Health. American Psychological Association, Washington, DC2006: 249-267
- Facing others in pain: The effects of empathy.Pain. 2005; 118: 285-288
- Agreeableness, empathy, and helping: A person × situation perspective.J Pers Soc Psychol. 2007; 93: 583-599
- Post-hoc probing of significant moderational and mediational effects in studies of pediatric populations.J Pediatr Psychol. 2002; 27: 87-96
- Empathic Accuracy.Guilford Press, New York, NY1997
- Measuring empathic accuracy.in: Hall J.A. Bernieri F.J. Interpersonal Sensitivity: Theory and Measurement. Erlbaum, Mahwah, NJ2001
- Naturalistic social cognition: Empathic accuracy in mixed-sex dyads.J Pers Soc Psychol. 1990; 59: 730-742
- Estimating within-group interrater reliability with and without response bias.J Appl Psychol. 1984; 69: 85-98
- An assessment of within-group interrater agreement.J Appl Psychol. 1993; 78: 306-309
- The role of marital interaction in chronic pain and depressive symptom severity.J Psychosom Res. 1990; 34: 401-408
- The West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (WHYMPI).Pain. 1985; 23: 345-356
- Empathic accuracy and accommodative behavior among newly married couples.Pers Relatsh. 2002; 9: 369-393
- Pain affects spouses too: Personal experience with pain and catastrophizing as correlates of spouse distress.Pain. 2006; 126: 139-146
- Social context and acceptance of chronic pain: The role of solicitous and punishing responses.Pain. 2005; 113: 155-159
- Solicitousness and chronic pain: A critical review.Pain Rev. 2002; 9: 7-27
- Chronic pain couples: Perceived marital interactions and pain behaviours.Pain. 2006; 123: 53-63
- Perceived spouse responses to pain: The level of agreement in couple dyads and the role of catastrophizing, marital satisfaction, and depression.J Behav Med. 2006; 29: 511-522
- Observational assessment of chronic pain patient: Spouse behavioral interactions.Behav Ther. 1991; 22: 549-567
- Sequential analysis of chronic pain behaviors and spouse responses.J Consult Clin Psychol. 1992; 60: 777-782
- The family environment in chronic pain patients: Comparison to controls and relationship to patient functioning.J Clin Psychol Med Settings. 1997; 4: 383-395
- Chronic pain patient-spouse behavioral interactions predict patient disability.Pain. 1995; 63: 353-360
- When accuracy hurts, and when it helps: A test of the empathic accuracy model in marital interactions.J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003; 85: 881-889
- Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads.J Marriage Fam. 1976; 38: 15-28
- Empathic accuracy in the interactions of male friends versus male strangers.J Pers Soc Psychol62. 1992; : 787-797
- Support provision in marriage: The role of emotional linkage and empathic accuracy.Emotion. 2008; 8: 792-802
- It takes two: The interpersonal nature of empathic accuracy.Psychol Sci. 2008; 19: 399-404
Article info
Publication history
Published online: January 09, 2012
Accepted:
October 27,
2011
Received in revised form:
August 6,
2011
Received:
April 27,
2011
Footnotes
Supported by BCBSM grant number 1185.SAP awarded to the third author and grant MH66975 awarded to the second author.
The authors declare that there are no relationships, financial or otherwise, that would produce a conflict of interest.
Identification
Copyright
© 2012 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
