Pain catastrophizing

Pain catastrophizing is a pattern of magnifying the threat of pain, dwelling on it, and feeling unable to cope. It is associated with greater pain-related distress and disability.

Magnification: A cognitive tendency to exaggerate the significance or danger of an experience. Pain catastrophizing magnifies the anticipated threat and consequences of pain.
Pain Catastrophizing Scale: A questionnaire that measures magnification, rumination, and helplessness related to pain. It operationalizes the three dimensions used to assess pain catastrophizing.
Chronic pain: Pain that persists or recurs for longer than three months. Catastrophizing is commonly studied as a psychological factor in persistent pain.
Pain anxiety: Fear and anxiety about pain, its occurrence, or its consequences. Pain anxiety emphasizes fear, while catastrophizing includes rumination and helplessness as well.
Pain catastrophizing and pain outcomes: Research on associations between catastrophic pain appraisals and pain-related outcomes. Associations are robust, but their size and causal interpretation vary across settings.
Rumination: Repetitive, difficult-to-disengage thinking about distressing experiences and their implications. Persistent attention to pain is one of pain catastrophizing’s defining patterns.
Cognitive appraisal: The process of evaluating the meaning and significance of an event. Pain catastrophizing is a particular way of appraising pain as threatening.
Pain intensity: The reported strength or severity of a pain experience. Higher catastrophizing is associated with greater reported pain intensity, though it does not determine it.
Depression: A mental health condition involving persistent low mood or loss of interest and related symptoms. Depression can overlap with pain catastrophizing but is a distinct condition.
Mediation analysis: A statistical approach that tests whether an intermediate variable helps explain an association. It is used to test whether catastrophizing links treatment changes to pain outcomes.

Linked from 7 pages