• Ahmet Uysal and Qian Lu.
• Department of Psychology, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. uahmet@metu.edu.tr.
• Health Psychol. 2011 Sep 1; 30 (5): 606-14.

ObjectiveSelf-concealment is the predisposition to hide negative personal information. The present research examined whether self-concealment was associated with acute and chronic pain.MethodsIn Study 1, undergraduate students (N = 44) completed an online questionnaire packet and then completed a cold-pressor task in the laboratory. In Study 2, individuals with chronic pain (N = 85) completed an online survey.ResultsStudy 1: Trait self-concealment was negatively associated with pain tolerance. Study 2: Self-concealment of chronic pain (hiding aspects of one's chronic pain condition from others) was associated with higher levels of self-reported pain and lower psychological well-being, independent of disclosure of feelings regarding pain. Furthermore, this association was mediated by autonomy and competence needs.ConclusionsSelf-concealment was found to be associated with higher levels of pain in both healthy and chronic pain samples. Moreover, the findings also suggest that intervention methods using the self-determination theory framework (i.e., autonomy and competence supportive) might be effective for individuals with chronic pain.

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