The moderating role of pain chronicity on the relationship between committed action and adjustment to chronic pain

Background: Recent studies showed that committed action (CA) predicts positive adjustment to chronic pain, over and beyond acceptance of pain. However, potential moderators of the effect of CA on psychological outcomes have not been explored yet. This study investigated whether chronicity of pain moderates the effect of CA on adjustment to pain. Methods: Participants were 132 patients with chronic pain recruited from the Unit of Anesthesiology and Pain Therapy at the Santa Chiara Hospital of Pisa (Italy). The sample was split into high- (≥ 5 years) and low (< 5 years) chronicity groups (HC and LC, respectively). Participants were 70 (68.6% females, Mean age = 55.47; SD = 13.36) and 62 (67.7% females; mean age = 57.40; SD = 11.64) in the LC and HC groups, respectively. Groups did not significantly differ on gender, age, and pain diagnosis. Patients completed self-report measures of pain intensity, pain acceptance, CA, anxiety, depression and quality of life. Results: Hierarchical Regression Analyses evidenced that CA was a unique predictor of all outcomes in the LC group, over and beyond socio-demographic variables, pain intensity and pain acceptance, with incremental variance ranging from 7 to 14% across the outcomes. Except for depression, the unique contribution of CA to explain adjustment was not statistically significant in the HC group. Conclusion: Findings suggest that pain chronicity moderates the effect of CA on different indicators of adjustment to chronic pain. The positive effects of CA on adjustment seem to be particularly important during the early phases of the chronicity.