Illness representations and life satisfaction of chronic pain patients and their partners

Abstract

Background: Severe dyadic stressors, like a chronic pain disorder of one partner, require extensive coping efforts from both partners. According to the “developmental-contextual model of couple coping†(Berg & Upchurch, 2007), illness representations of both partners are crucial for their own and their partners’ life satisfaction. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relations between patients’ and partners’ representations of the patients’ chronic pain disorder and both partners’ life satisfaction. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 119 pain disorder patients (age M=55) and their partners (age M=57) filled in the IPQ-R or the IPQ-R-partner version and a questionnaire assessing life satisfaction (FLZ). Data were analyzed using actor-partner-interdependence-models (APIMs). Findings: APIMs revealed both actor effects (AE) and partner effects (PE). Patients’ representations of the disorder as less chronic (AE=-.42***; PE=-.26*), causing fewer consequences (AE=-.52***; PE=-.17ns), evoking fewer emotional representations (AE=-.32**; PE=-.13ns) and as highly controllable through own behavior (AE=.61***; PE=.46***) and treatment (AE=.46***; PE=.37***) were related to their own and partly to their partners’ higher life satisfaction. Partners’ representations of control were negatively related to patients’ and partners’ life satisfaction. However, these APIM-findings turned out to be suppressor effects. Discussion: Patients’ illness representations that explain a chronic pain disorder in more positive terms are associated with both partners’ life satisfaction. Contrary to expectations, partners’ illness representations do not contribute substantially to patients’ or partners’ life satisfaction. Psychological interventions should focus on increasing both personal and treatment control beliefs in chronic pain patients to enable appropriate coping in daily life.