• Alicia E López-Martínez, Carmen Ramírez-Maestre, Elena R Serrano-Ibáñez, Gema T Ruiz-Párraga, and Rosa Esteve.
• Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológico, Facultad de Psicología y Logopedia, Universidad de Málaga, Instituto de Investigaciones Biomédicas de Málaga (IBIMA), Málaga, Spain.
• Pain Med. 2022 Sep 30; 23 (10): 1793-1799.

ObjectiveSubstantial empirical evidence has shown that intolerance of uncertainty is a central transdiagnostic feature in psychopathology and it has been suggested to be a pain-related psychological factor contributing to the experience of chronic pain. However, research in this area is virtually nonexistent. The objective of this study was to investigate associations between pain severity, catastrophizing, and anxiety in people with chronic nononcological pain, while assuming that intolerance of uncertainty moderates these relationships.MethodsA convenience sample of 188 individuals with nononcological chronic pain (157 women and 32 men) participated in the study. We investigated the moderated mediation of intolerance of uncertainty between anxiety and catastrophizing and between catastrophizing and pain intensity.ResultsThe full moderated mediation model accounted for significant variance in pain intensity (R2 = 0.148, P< .001). Intolerance of uncertainty significantly moderated the interaction between anxiety and catastrophizing (B = 0.039, SE = 0.012, 95% CI [0.015, 0.063]) and between catastrophizing and pain intensity (B = -0.034, SE = 0.010, 95% CI [-0.054, -0.014]). Anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty did not interact in predicting catastrophizing, although an interaction effect was found between intolerance of uncertainty and catastrophizing in predicting pain intensity.ConclusionThis study is the first to address the interrelationship of intolerance of uncertainty, catastrophizing, and anxiety in relation to perceived pain intensity. The current findings support intolerance of uncertainty as a relevant psychological variable that is distinct from other relevant constructs in the setting of pain research and treatment.© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Academy of Pain Medicine. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

14 keywords...

hide…