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Positive psychological well-being predicts lower severe pain in the general population : A 2-year follow-up study of the SwePain cohort

Larsson, Britt LU ; Dragioti, Elena ; Gerdle, Björn and Björk, Jonas LU (2019) In Annals of General Psychiatry 18(1).
Abstract

Background: Positive psychology indicators like well-being and life satisfaction may play a pivotal role in pain-related outcomes. In this study, we aimed to examine the prospective associations of positive well-being and life satisfaction with pain severity. Methods and Subjects: This longitudinal study, with a follow-up of 2 years, included 9361 participants (4266 males, 5095 females; mean age: 52.5 years; SD: 17.5) without and with chronic pain (CP) at baseline. All analyses were stratified by the two sub-cohorts - participants without CP (sub-cohort 1) and participants with CP (sub-cohort 2) at baseline. The predictive associations, assessed using ordinal regression in a Generalized Linear Model, were adjusted for baseline potential... (More)

Background: Positive psychology indicators like well-being and life satisfaction may play a pivotal role in pain-related outcomes. In this study, we aimed to examine the prospective associations of positive well-being and life satisfaction with pain severity. Methods and Subjects: This longitudinal study, with a follow-up of 2 years, included 9361 participants (4266 males, 5095 females; mean age: 52.5 years; SD: 17.5) without and with chronic pain (CP) at baseline. All analyses were stratified by the two sub-cohorts - participants without CP (sub-cohort 1) and participants with CP (sub-cohort 2) at baseline. The predictive associations, assessed using ordinal regression in a Generalized Linear Model, were adjusted for baseline potential confounders and reported as odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: After adjustments, in sub-cohort 1 positive well-being at baseline was associated with lower severe pain at follow-up compared to participants with severe distress (OR: 0.64; 95% CI 0.49-0.84; p < 0.001). In sub-cohort 2, both positive well-being and life satisfaction at baseline were associated with lower severe pain at follow-up compared to participants with severe distress and not satisfied with life (OR: 0.80; 95% CI 0.65-0.98; p = 0.031 and OR: 0.82; 95% CI 0.69-0.96; p = 0.014, respectively). Conclusions: Positive well-being is predictive of lower pain severity both among participants without and with CP at baseline, whereas life satisfaction was found predictive of lower pain severity only for subjects with CP. Future research should emphasize implementing treatments associated with promoting and maintaining positive well-being and life satisfaction in patients who suffer from chronic pain and in risk populations.

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author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Chronic pain, Cohort, Multimorbidity, Pain severity, Positive outcomes, Positive well-being
in
Annals of General Psychiatry
volume
18
issue
1
article number
8
publisher
BioMed Central (BMC)
external identifiers
  • scopus:85066613585
ISSN
1744-859X
DOI
10.1186/s12991-019-0231-9
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6ed2ce52-e977-437a-aef2-57ee24f76498
date added to LUP
2019-07-04 10:21:58
date last changed
2022-04-18 08:20:22
@article{6ed2ce52-e977-437a-aef2-57ee24f76498,
  abstract     = {{<p>Background: Positive psychology indicators like well-being and life satisfaction may play a pivotal role in pain-related outcomes. In this study, we aimed to examine the prospective associations of positive well-being and life satisfaction with pain severity. Methods and Subjects: This longitudinal study, with a follow-up of 2 years, included 9361 participants (4266 males, 5095 females; mean age: 52.5 years; SD: 17.5) without and with chronic pain (CP) at baseline. All analyses were stratified by the two sub-cohorts - participants without CP (sub-cohort 1) and participants with CP (sub-cohort 2) at baseline. The predictive associations, assessed using ordinal regression in a Generalized Linear Model, were adjusted for baseline potential confounders and reported as odds ratios (ORs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: After adjustments, in sub-cohort 1 positive well-being at baseline was associated with lower severe pain at follow-up compared to participants with severe distress (OR: 0.64; 95% CI 0.49-0.84; p &lt; 0.001). In sub-cohort 2, both positive well-being and life satisfaction at baseline were associated with lower severe pain at follow-up compared to participants with severe distress and not satisfied with life (OR: 0.80; 95% CI 0.65-0.98; p = 0.031 and OR: 0.82; 95% CI 0.69-0.96; p = 0.014, respectively). Conclusions: Positive well-being is predictive of lower pain severity both among participants without and with CP at baseline, whereas life satisfaction was found predictive of lower pain severity only for subjects with CP. Future research should emphasize implementing treatments associated with promoting and maintaining positive well-being and life satisfaction in patients who suffer from chronic pain and in risk populations.</p>}},
  author       = {{Larsson, Britt and Dragioti, Elena and Gerdle, Björn and Björk, Jonas}},
  issn         = {{1744-859X}},
  keywords     = {{Chronic pain; Cohort; Multimorbidity; Pain severity; Positive outcomes; Positive well-being}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{1}},
  publisher    = {{BioMed Central (BMC)}},
  series       = {{Annals of General Psychiatry}},
  title        = {{Positive psychological well-being predicts lower severe pain in the general population : A 2-year follow-up study of the SwePain cohort}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12991-019-0231-9}},
  doi          = {{10.1186/s12991-019-0231-9}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}