Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this study is to examine positive affect (PA) as a factor of resilience in the relationships between pain and negative affect (NA) in a sample of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: Forty-three patients (30 women; mean age, 57 years) were interviewed weekly by telephone for 8 weeks. Multilevel modeling was applied to study the within-week relationships among the variables. Results: There was a Pain×PA interaction effect on NA (β=-0.05, P<.01) indicating a weaker relationship between pain and NA in weeks with more PA. Pain (β=0.37, P<.002), interpersonal stress (β=2.42, P<.001), depression (β=0.26, P<.01), average perceived stress (β=10.80, P<.001), and also weekly PA (β=-0.1, P<.01) had a main effect upon NA. Conclusion: Positive affect is most influential in reducing NA during weeks of higher pain and may be a factor of resilience, helping patients experiencing pain fluctuations as less distressful than at lower levels of PA.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 477-484 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Journal of Psychosomatic Research |
Volume | 60 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - May 2006 |
Keywords
- Negative affect
- Pain
- Positive affect
- Resilience
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Stress
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Clinical Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health