• Elizabeth T Kneeland, Margaret L Griffin, Nadine Taghian, Roger D Weiss, and R Kathryn McHugh.
• a Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, McLean Hospital , Belmont , MA , USA.
• Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2019 Jan 1; 45 (5): 488-494.

AbstractBackground: Pain catastrophizing refers to the tendency to interpret pain as harmful, intolerable, or uncontrollable. Greater pain catastrophizing is associated with more pain-related negative phenomena, such as pain reactivity, pain disability, and emotional distress related to pain. Several studies of patients seeking chronic pain treatment have identified an association between pain catastrophizing and misuse of opioids and alcohol; however, it is unknown whether this association would be similarly present in patients with chronic pain seeking substance use disorder treatment. Objectives: The current study examined whether pain catastrophizing is associated with worse pain-related outcomes and psychological functioning in individuals receiving inpatient substance use disorder treatment who endorsed current chronic pain. Methods: In a series of regression models, we tested the associations between pain catastrophizing and functioning, specifically pain interference, craving, anxiety, and days of mood difficulties in a cross-sectional sample of patients seeking substance use disorder treatment with co-occurring chronic pain (N = 244, 67.6% female). Results: Greater pain catastrophizing was associated with more pain interference, higher levels of craving, more anxiety symptoms and more days of mood difficulties, adjusted for demographic characteristics and pain severity. Conclusion: In patients with comorbid substance use disorder and chronic pain, pain catastrophizing may offer a potential therapeutic target to improve substance use treatment outcomes.

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