Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Relationship between Acculturative Stress and Pain Catastrophizing in Korean Americans

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Acculturative stress is speculated to be a sociocultural factor contributing to pain since cultural beliefs and practices can influence the way patients perceive and respond to pain. However, the relationship between acculturative stress and pain catastrophizing remains poorly understood. Therefore, we examined the relationship between acculturative stress and pain catastrophizing in Korean Americans. We collected survey data from Korean American in Texas (N = 374). Acculturative stress was measured with the Acculturative Stress Scale, and pain catastrophizing was measured with the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Participants’ mean age was 46.89 years, and 63% were women. Bivariate and multivariate statistical analyses indicated that higher acculturative stress may contribute to higher pain catastrophizing (regression coefficient = 1.02, P = 0.04). These findings advance our understanding of sociocultural factors associated with pain in Korean Americans; additional research with a larger sample is warranted for cross-validation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Gaskin DJ, Richard P. The economic costs of pain in the United States. J Pain. 2012;13(8):715–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Advancing Pain Research, Care, and Education. Institute of Medicine: Relieving pain in America: a blueprint for transforming prevention, care, education, and research. Washington, DC: National Acadmies Press; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Rahim-Williams B, Riley JL 3rd, Williams AK, Fillingim RB. A quantitative review of ethnic group differences in experimental pain response: do biology, psychology, and culture matter? Pain Med. 2012;13(4):522–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Vaughn IA, Terry EL, Bartley EJ, Schaefer N, Fillingim RB. Racial-ethnic differences in osteoarthritis pain and disability: a meta-analysis. J Pain. 2019;20(6):629–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Ostrom C, Bair E, Maixner W, Dubner R, Fillingim RB, Ohrbach R, Slade GD, Greenspan JD. Demographic predictors of pain sensitivity: results from the OPPERA study. J Pain. 2017;18(3):295–307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. United States Census Bureau: The Asian Population: 2010 Census Briefs. 2011; Available from: https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-11.pdf.

  7. World Bank Prospects Group: Korean Immigrants in the United States. 2019; Available from: https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/korean-immigrants-united-states.

  8. Jang Y, Chiriboga DA. Living in a different world: acculturative stress among Korean American elders. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2010;65B(1):14–211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Min JW, Moon A, Lubben JE. Determinants of psychological distress over time among older Korean immigrants and Non-Hispanic White elders: evidence from a two-wave panel study. Aging Ment Health. 2005;9(3):210–22.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Lu Q, Zeltzer L, Tsao J. Multiethnic differences in responses to laboratory pain stimuli among children. Health Psychol. 2013;32(8):905–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Rowell LN, Mechlin B, Ji E, Addamo M, Girdler SS. Asians differ from non-Hispanic Whites in experimental pain sensitivity. Eur J Pain. 2011;15(7):764–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Hsieh AY, Tripp DA, Ji LJ, Sullivan MJ. Comparisons of catastrophizing, pain attitudes, and cold-pressor pain experience between Chinese and European Canadian young adults. J Pain. 2010;11(11):1187–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Komiyama O, Wang K, Svensson P, Arendt-Nielsen L, Kawara M, De Laat A. Ethnic differences regarding sensory, pain, and reflex responses in the trigeminal region. Clin Neurophysiol. 2009;120(2):384–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Ahn H, Weaver M, Lyon D, Choi E, Fillingim RB. Depression and pain in Asian and White Americans with knee osteoarthritis. J Pain. 2017;18(10):1229–366.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Ahn H, Weaver M, Lyon DE, Kim J, Choi E, Staud R, Fillingim RB. Differences in clinical pain and experimental pain sensitivity between Asian Americans and Whites with knee osteoarthritis. Clin J Pain. 2017;33(2):174–80.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Chan MY, Hamamura T, Janschewitz K. Ethnic differences in physical pain sensitivity: role of acculturation. Pain. 2013;154(1):119–23.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Dhingra L, Lam K, Homel P, Chen J, Chang VT, Zhou J, Chan S, Lam WL, Portenoy R. Pain in underserved community-dwelling Chinese American cancer patients: demographic and medical correlates. Oncologist. 2011;16(4):523–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Khan SA, Jackson RT, Momen B. The Relationship between diet quality and acculturation of immigrated South Asian American adults and their association with metabolic syndrome. PLoS One. 2016;11(6):e0156851.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Young CB, Fang DZ, Zisook S. Depression in Asian-American and Caucasian undergraduate students. J Affect Disord. 2010;125(1–3):379–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Ahn H, Sorkpor SK, Kim M, Miao H, Zhong C, Wang J, Lyon D, Fillingim RB. The relationship between acculturation and experimental pain sensitivity in Asian Americans with knee osteoarthritis. Pain Res Manag. 2018;2018:9128015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Fillingim RB. Individual differences in pain responses. Curr Rheumatol Rep. 2005;7(5):342–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Kim MT, Han HR, Shin HS, Kim KB, Lee HB. Factors associated with depression experience of immigrant populations: a study of Korean immigrants. Arch Psychiatr Nurs. 2005;19(5):217–25.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Sullivan MJ, Rodgers WM, Kirsch I. Catastrophizing, depression and expectancies for pain and emotional distress. Pain. 2001;91(1–2):147–54.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  24. Edwards RR, Fillingim RB, Maixner W, Sigurdsson A, Haythornthwaite J. Catastrophizing predicts changes in thermal pain responses after resolution of acute dental pain. J Pain. 2004;5(3):164–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Wertli MM, Burgstaller JM, Weiser S, Steurer J, Kofmehl R, Held U. Influence of catastrophizing on treatment outcome in patients with nonspecific low back pain: a systematic review. Spine. 2014;39(3):263–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Talaei-Khoei M, Chen N, Ring D, Vranceanu AM. Satisfaction with life moderates the indirect effect of pain intensity on pain interference through pain catastrophizing. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2018;86(3):231–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Sandhu DS, Asrabadi BR. Development of an acculturative stress scale for international students: preliminary findings. Psychol Rep. 1994;75(1 Pt 2):435–48.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Sullivan M, Pivik J. The pain catastrophizing scale: development and validation. Psychol Assess. 1995;7:524–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Osman A, Barrios FX, Gutierrez PM, Kopper BA, Merrifield T, Grittmann L. The pain catastrophizing scale: further psychometric evaluation with adult samples. J Behav Med. 2000;23(4):351–65.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Osman A, Barrios FX, Kopper BA, Hauptmann W, Jones J, O'Neill E. Factor structure, reliability, and validity of the pain catastrophizing scale. J Behav Med. 1997;20(6):589–605.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Palmer B, Macfarlane G, Afzal C, Esmail A, Silman A, Lunt M. Acculturation and the prevalence of pain amongst South Asian minority ethnic groups in the UK. Rheumatology. 2007;46(6):1009–144.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  32. Re TS, Bragazzi NL, Siri A, Cisneros Puebla C, Friese S, Simoes M, Candau J, Khabbache H. Effects of acculturation, coping strategies, locus of control, and self-efficacy on chronic pain: study of Chinese immigrant women in Italy—insights from a thematic field analysis. J Pain Res. 2017;10:1383–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Edwards CL, Fillingim RB, Keefe F. Race, ethnicity and pain. Pain. 2001;94(2):133–7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Schwartz SJ, Unger JB, Zamboanga BL, Szapocznik J. Rethinking the concept of acculturation: implications for theory and research. Am Psychol. 2010;65(4):237–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. Jang Y, Kim G, Chiriboga D, Kallimanis B. A bidimensional model of acculturation for Korean American older adults. J Aging Stud. 2007;21(3):267–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

Funding was provided by National Institute of Nursing Research (Grant Nos. R15NR018050, R01NR019051).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Research, Cizik School of Nursing, The University of Texas Health Science Center At Houston, 6901 Bertner Avenue, Ste. 567A, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Hyochol Ahn, Natalie Jackson & Kelli Galle

  2. Department of Adult Health and Nursing Systems, School of Nursing, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA

    Kyungeh An

  3. College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA

    Roger B. Fillingim

  4. Department of Biostatistics and Data Science, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center At Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Hongyu Miao

  5. School of Nursing, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Moonju Lee & Jisook Ko

  6. College of Nursing, Texas Woman’s University, Denton, TX, USA

    Mikyoung A. Lee

Authors
  1. Hyochol Ahn
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Natalie Jackson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Kyungeh An
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Roger B. Fillingim
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Hongyu Miao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Moonju Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. Jisook Ko
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Kelli Galle
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Mikyoung A. Lee
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hyochol Ahn.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ahn, H., Jackson, N., An, K. et al. Relationship between Acculturative Stress and Pain Catastrophizing in Korean Americans. J Immigrant Minority Health 23, 741–746 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01083-6

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-020-01083-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation