Psychology, health & medicine
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Chronic pain is a cause of morbidity, interference with daily functioning, decreased health and quality of life. Purpose in life acts as a protective factor and mitigates these consequences. ⋯ Results showed that purpose in life independently contributed to psychological morbidity and to mental quality of life, but not to physical quality of life, after controlling for pain-related variables. Results showed the relevance of purpose in life to identify patients at risk of developing psychological morbidity and decreased quality of life, suggestting the need to intervene in chronic pain, specifically on purpose in life, to prevent psychological morbidity and promote quality of life, in this population.