Arthritis care and research : the official journal of the Arthritis Health Professions Association
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Comparative Study
The relationships of cognitive coping and pain control beliefs to pain and adjustment among African-American and Caucasian women with rheumatoid arthritis.
Ethnic groups may experience or report pain differently; thus, we compared ethnic differences on pain coping strategies and control beliefs, and the relationships of these variables to health status, among women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ⋯ There are ethnic differences in the use of coping strategies that should be acknowledged when helping RA patients cope with their disease, but control beliefs and several coping strategies predict pain and adjustment, regardless of ethnicity.