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The moderating role of pain catastrophizing on the relationship between partner support and pain intensity: a daily diary study in patients with knee osteoarthritis

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Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the day-to-day associations between partner support, pain catastrophizing and pain intensity in individuals with end-stage knee osteoarthritis. In this microlongitudinal cohort study, participants (N = 124) with end-stage knee osteoarthritis completed baseline measures of trait pain catastrophizing and negative affect. Participants also provided daily diary assessments of partner support, pain catastrophizing and pain intensity for a period of 7 days using a personal digital assistant. Multilevel analyses revealed that day-to-day fluctuations in pain catastrophizing were associated with pain intensity. Data from multilevel analyses indicated that the main effect of partner support was not significantly associated with pain intensity. Results also indicated the interactions between partner support and both trait and state pain catastrophizing were significant, suggesting that both trait and state pain catastrophizing moderated the relationship between daily partner support and pain intensity. That is, on days when participants experienced low levels of partner support, high catastrophizers reported higher levels of pain intensity than low catastrophizers. In the presence of higher levels of partner support, pain intensity did not differ between high and low catastrophizers. These results are consistent with the Communal Coping Model of pain catastrophizing, and highlight the interpersonal context within which pain catastrophizing impacts pain outcomes. These findings also suggest that future interventions designed to specifically target the dynamic between pain catastrophizing and partner support may improve pain outcomes in individuals with end-stage knee OA.

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Funding

This study was funded by National Institutes of Health (Grant Nos. R01 AG034982; RRE and R01 AR064367) and the Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé (Grant number 254676; JSC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital Pain Management Center, Harvard Medical School, 850 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, MA, 02467, USA

    Junie S. Carriere, Asimina Lazaridou, Marise Cornelius & Robert R. Edwards

  2. Faculties of Dentistry and Medicine, McGill University, 3640 University Street, Montreal, QC, H3A 2B2, Canada

    Marc Olivier Martel

  3. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 5510 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD, 21224, USA

    Claudia Campbell, Michael Smith & Jennifer A. Haythornthwaite

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  1. Junie S. Carriere
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  2. Asimina Lazaridou
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  4. Marise Cornelius
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Correspondence to Junie S. Carriere.

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Junie S. Carriere declares that she has no conflict of interest. Asimina Lazaridou declares that she has no conflict of interest. Marc Olivier Martel declares that he has no conflict of interest. Marise Cornelius declares that she has no conflict of interest. Claudia Campbell declares that she has no conflict of interest. Michael Smith declares that he has no conflict of interest. Jennifer A. Haythornthwaite declares that she has no conflict of interest. Robert R. Edwards declares that he has no conflict of interest.

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Carriere, J.S., Lazaridou, A., Martel, M.O. et al. The moderating role of pain catastrophizing on the relationship between partner support and pain intensity: a daily diary study in patients with knee osteoarthritis. J Behav Med 43, 807–816 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-019-00121-5

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