A longitudinal investigation of pain-related social support preferences in a chronic pain treatment sample.

Objectives: Chronic pain patients' pain-related social support preferences have received little clinical or research attention. However, recent research utilizing the Pain Response Preference Questionnaire (PRPQ) has indicated that such preferences are related to pain-related disability. This study investigated whether pain-related social support preferences: (1) were related to disability levels, (2) predicted changes in pain and disability following a group-based treatment program, and (3) changed from pretreatment to posttreatment.

Methods: At pretreatment and posttreatment, chronic pain patients (N=45) participating in a self-management psychoeducation program completed the PRPQ and measures of pain severity and disability.

Results: A multiple regression analysis indicated that at pretreatment the Solicitude scale of the PRPQ was positively associated with disability, and that this association was moderated by the other 2 PRPQ scales (Activity Direction and Suppression). The PRPQ scales did not predict changes in pain or disability and there were no significant changes in the PRPQ scale scores. However, participants did not respond to the Solicitude scale in a consistent manner from pretreatment to posttreatment (51.1% decreased, 35.5% increased, and 13.3% remained the same). These changes were unrelated to changes in pain or disability.

Discussion: Additional research aimed at identifying the processes underlying the association between pain-related support preferences and disability is warranted. Given the potentially important role that a desire for solicitous support may play in shaping the social context of pain, understanding the unexpected changes in Solicitude scale scores found in the present study may be particularly important for improving self-management treatments for chronic pain.