Highlights
- •Partner behavioral responses were associated with pain and depression in women with provoked vestibulodynia (PVD).
- •The association between partner cognition and patient pain and depression was partially mediated by partner behaviors.
- •Partner cognitions regarding pain may be an important target for therapy in couples in which the woman has PVD.
Abstract
Partner behavioral responses to pain can have a significant impact on patient pain
and depression, but little is known about why partners respond in specific ways. Using
a cognitive-behavioral model, the present study examined whether partner cognitions
were associated with partner behavioral responses, which prior work has found to predict
patient pain and depressive symptoms. Participants were 354 women with provoked vestibulodynia
and their partners. Partner pain-related cognitions were assessed using the partner
versions of the Pain Catastrophizing Scale and Extended Attributional Style Questionnaire,
whereas their behavioral responses to pain were assessed with the Multidimensional
Pain Inventory. Patient pain was measured using a numeric rating scale, and depressive
symptoms were assessed using the Beck Depression Inventory–II. Path analysis was used
to examine the proposed model. Partner catastrophizing and negative attributions were
associated with negative partner responses, which were associated with higher patient
pain. It was also found that partner pain catastrophizing was associated with solicitous
partner responses, which in turn were associated with higher patient pain and depressive
symptoms. The effect of partner cognitions on patient outcomes was partially mediated
by partner behavioral responses. Findings highlight the importance of assessing partner
cognitions, both in research and as a target for intervention.
Perspective
The present study presents a cognitive-behavioral model to partially explain how significant
others' thoughts about pain have an effect on patient pain and depressive symptoms.
Findings may inform cognitive-behavioral therapy for couples coping with PVD.
Key words
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: March 28, 2015
Accepted:
March 10,
2015
Received in revised form:
March 9,
2015
Received:
August 12,
2014
Footnotes
Supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) postdoctoral fellowship to S.N.D. and a CIHR operating grant to S.B.
No author has any conflicts of interest to report.
Identification
Copyright
© 2015 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.