Publications by authors named "Andrea K Newman"

Background: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a significant problem affecting millions of people worldwide. Three widely implemented psychological techniques used for CLBP management are cognitive therapy (CT), mindfulness meditation (MM), and behavioral activation (BA). This study aimed to evaluate the relative immediate (pre- to post-treatment) and longer term (pre-treatment to 3- and 6-month follow-ups) effects of group, videoconference-delivered CT, BA, and MM for CLBP.

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Although evidence supports the importance of pain-related thoughts (ie, cognitive content, or what people think) as predictors of pain and pain-related function, evidence regarding the role of cognitive processes (ie, how people think about pain, eg, by accepting pain, not making judgments about pain, or being absorbed by the pain experience) in adjustment to chronic pain is in its early stages. Using baseline data from a clinical trial of individuals with chronic low back pain (N = 327), the study aimed to increase knowledge regarding the associations between cognitive processes, pain intensity, pain interference, and depression. The results indicate that a number of cognitive processes are significantly related to pain intensity when controlling for catastrophizing, although the pattern of associations found was opposite to those anticipated.

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Article Synopsis
  • Injuries, especially burns, are a major health issue for Alaska Native people, prompting the need for better care systems involving partnerships between medical centers in Alaska and Seattle.
  • Focus groups with Alaska Native individuals who suffered burn injuries revealed key issues like limited local medical help, mistrust of medical practices, and lack of emotional support during recovery.
  • The study highlights the need for improved, culturally sensitive treatment options and suggests using programs to enhance healthcare support for Alaska Native communities.
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Background: Anxiety appears to be more prevalent in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) than in the general population, though it is unclear if anxiety varies by MS disease course. There are experiences unique to each disease course that might increase the likelihood of anxiety. Additionally, the majority of research in MS has focused on people with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), while the experiences of people with progressive forms of MS are understudied.

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Introduction: Neck and low back pain are significant health problem in sedentary office workers. Active break and postural shift interventions has been proved to reduce the incidence of new onset of both neck and low back pain.

Objectives: To identify variables that moderate the effects of active breaks and postural shift interventions on the development of neck and low back pain in office workers.

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  • Psychosocial treatments, like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and pain education (EDU), show positive effects on chronic pain, but the specific mechanisms behind these outcomes are still unclear.
  • A study measuring the impact of these methods found that pain catastrophizing (the tendency to excessively focus on pain) decreased similarly in both CBT and EDU interventions among participants with chronic pain and low literacy.
  • The analysis revealed a reciprocal relationship: reductions in pain catastrophizing led to decreased pain intensity and interference, and vice versa, with the connection being strongest early in the treatment and diminishing over time.
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Research on intersectionality and chronic pain disparities is very limited. Intersectionality explores the interconnections between multiple aspects of identity and provides a more accurate image of disparities. This study applied a relatively novel statistical approach (ie, Latent Class Analysis) to examine chronic pain disparities with an intersectional identity approach.

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  • A study compared the effects of cognitive therapy (CT), mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR), behavior therapy (BT), and treatment as usual (TAU) on chronic low back pain in 521 participants.
  • All three active treatments (CT, MBSR, BT) showed similar improvements in pain, physical function, mood, and sleep disturbances, significantly outperforming TAU.
  • The treatments began to show noticeable benefits by session 6, indicating that the techniques used may be less critical than the act of participating in any evidence-based treatment for chronic pain.
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This is a secondary data analysis of a subgroup of participants who received the Learning About My Pain (LAMP) intervention (clinicaltrials.gov identifier NCT01967342). We examined the effects of LAMP on pre-to-post changes in biomedical and biopsychosocial pain conceptualization and whether those changes in pain conceptualization were associated with physical and psychological functioning.

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Objectives: The goals of the study were to determine to what degree changes in pain-related cognition during cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) and pain education (EDU) represented treatment mechanisms and whether these cognitive changes worked to a larger extent to produce favorable outcomes in CBT than in EDU.

Method: Reported here are secondary analyses of a randomized control trial (N = 290) comparing CBT, EDU, and treatment as usual for low-literacy, low-socioeconomic-status people with chronic pain. We excluded the treatment as usual condition from these analyses and included measures collected at a midtreatment epoch.

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The examination of pain beliefs for chronic pain assessment and treatment has been a growing area of interest. A variety of questionnaires have been developed to assess pain beliefs, however, these questionnaires often require high levels of literacy and education. The pain concepts questionnaire (PCQ) was developed with literacy-adaptations to better evaluate pain beliefs in a low socioeconomic (SES) population.

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Objectives: The Illness Invalidation Inventory (3*I) was designed to assess individuals' perceived invalidation regarding chronic pain experiences. However, no study has yet investigated the psychometric properties of the 3*I among individuals with chronic low back pain (CLBP). Given the personal and societal impact of CLBP and the potential for invalidation associated with this condition, the current study sought to examine the psychometric properties of the 3*I among individuals with CLBP.

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Article Synopsis
  • * The Learning About My Pain study compared the effects of a 10-week literacy-adapted cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) to pain education and usual care on chronic pain, revealing that patients with lower education and literacy benefited more from CBT.
  • * The findings indicate that adapting CBT for those with educational and cognitive challenges helps equalize treatment benefits, suggesting that structured support can effectively meet the needs of disadvantaged patients.
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Background: Chronic pain is a serious health problem with high rates of health care utilization (HCU). Many patients become stymied in a perpetual cycle of unsuccessful attempts to find relief from suffering through frequent health care visits. Especially within low-income populations, the burdens of health care services are especially unpleasant due to significant financial costs, barriers to transportation, and high levels of stress.

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Background: Chronic pain is common and challenging to treat. Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is efficacious, its benefit in disadvantaged populations is largely unknown.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of literacy-adapted and simplified group CBT versus group pain education (EDU) versus usual care.

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Chronic pain is a pervasive condition that is complicated by economic, educational, and racial disparities. This study analyzes key factors associated with chronic pain within an understudied and underserved population. The sample is characterized by a triple disparity with respect to income, education/literacy, and racial barriers that substantially increase the vulnerability to the negative consequences of chronic pain.

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