Committed action, one of the components of psychological flexibility, has been shown to be related with measures of pain-relevant function domains in patients with chronic pain. However, the associations between measures of committed action and of physical health and function in individuals with fibromyalgia (FM) have not yet been examined. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to better understand the role that committed action plays in (1) pain-related disability and (2) mental and physical health in individuals with FM. One hundred twenty-nine adult females with a diagnosis of FM from a rheumatologist were administered measures of committed action, disability, physical health, and mental health. After controlling for age and pain intensity, committed action explained an additional 24% of the variance of pain disability, 39% of the variance of physical health, and 41% of the variance of mental health. This study provides important new information on the associations between a measure of committed action and perceived health and function in a sample of women with FM. The findings are also consistent with the psychological flexibility model for understanding pain and its impact in patients with FM.
Keywords: chronic pain; committed action; fibromyalgia; psychological flexibility.