The pain of being misunderstood: Invalidation of pain complaints in chronic low back pain patients

J Health Psychol. 2017 Feb;22(2):135-147. doi: 10.1177/1359105315596371. Epub 2016 Jul 10.

Abstract

A particular form of social pain is invalidation. Therefore, this study (a) investigates whether patients with chronic low back pain experience invalidation, (b) if it has an influence on their pain, and (c) explores whether various social sources (e.g. partner and work) influence physical pain differentially. A total of 92 patients completed questionnaires, and for analysis, Pearson's correlation coefficients and hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted. They indicated a significant association between discounting and disability due to pain (respective β = .29, p > .05). Especially, discounting by partner was linked to higher disability ( β = .28, p > .05).

Keywords: chronic low back pain; disability; invalidation; social pain; social rejection.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Attitude to Health*
  • Chronic Pain / psychology*
  • Disability Evaluation
  • Disabled Persons / psychology*
  • Disabled Persons / statistics & numerical data
  • Female
  • Germany
  • Humans
  • Low Back Pain / psychology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Pain Measurement
  • Regression Analysis
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Young Adult