Coping Similarity And Psychosocial Risk Factors In Couples With Chronic Pain

COPING SIMILARITY AND PSYCHOSOCIAL RISK FACTORS IN COUPLES WITHCHRONIC PAINbyAMY WILLIAMSAugust 2014Advisor: Dr. Annmarie CanoMajor: Psychology (Clinical)Degree: Doctor of PhilosophyChronic pain is an important public health problem that is associated with a hostof negative individual and relationship outcomes. Chronic pain is a chronic stressor thatboth the individual in pain and their spouse must cope with. The current study examinedhow pain coping similarity within the couple predicted not only patient adjustment, butalso spouse adjustment in a longitudinal study. Participants were 108 heterosexualcouples in which one partner had chronic pain. The participants completed measures at3 time points at 6 month intervals. Both the patient and spouse individually completedquestionnaires pertaining to their marriage, mood, pain and relationship. The samplewas diverse for both patients (41.7% Caucasian, 47.2% African-American), andspouses (41.7% Caucasian, 46.3% African-American). The gender of the patients wasbalanced with 45.4% male (n = 49). The average ages of patients and spouses were52.29 years and 52.00 years, respectively, and were married an average of 21.26years. Patients reported average pain duration of 11.72 years.Overall, there were sparse findings in regards to couples coping similarity;however, the findings on each partner’s coping strategies and adjustment were more