PAIN COPING STRATEGIES IN RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS - RELATIONSHIPS TO PAIN, DISABILITY, DEPRESSION AND DAILY HASSLES

The present study investigated the relation of pain coping strategies to physical disability, pain, psychological disability, depression and daily hassles in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Subjects were 65 RA patients recruited from an outpatient rheumatology clinic. Each subject completed the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ), The Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale (AIMS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and the Hassles Scale. Correlational analyses indicated that the Pain Control and Rational Thinking (PCRT) factor of the CSQ was strongly related to measures of adjustment. Regression analyses revealed that after controlling for demographic variables (age, gender) and medical variables (functional classification, disability support status), the PCRT factor of the CSQ explained a significant proportion of variance in physical disability, pain, psychological disability, depression, and hassles severity. Patients scoring high on the PCRT factor had lower levels of physical disability, pain, psychological disability, depression and hassles severity. Taken together, these findings suggest that pain coping strategies in RA patients are significantly related to pain and disability. © 1991 Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy. All rights reserved.