Relationships Among Affect, Emotional Distress, and Physical Health Status in Fibromyalgia

Our main goal was to examine in a sample of female patients with fibromyalgia the associations among negative affect, positive affect, physical health status, and emotional distress. Moreover, we intended to determine whether emotional distress acts as a mediator between negative affect and physical health status, as well as between positive affect and physical health status. Results have shown that a lower physical health status is associated to higher levels of negative affect, emotional distress, and lower levels of positive affect. Furthermore, we have found support for the mediating role of emotional distress between negative affect and physical health status. On the other hand, the relationship between positive affect and physical health status was only partially mediated by emotional distress. Implications and future directions are discussed.