ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3122-4483

Date of Award

Spring 5-2019

Author's School

Graduate School of Arts and Sciences

Author's Department

Psychology

Degree Name

Master of Arts (AM/MA)

Degree Type

Thesis

Abstract

Pain is often conceptualized as an experience that is both physical and emotional. These two components are often difficult to distinguish, which may contribute to the experience of chronic physical pain without an apparent physical cause. In the current two studies, I sought to examine whether emotional pain is associated with physical pain severity for individuals with chronic pain. Emotional pain and the more specific experiences of psychological and social pain have been defined as the experience of pain affect in response to non-physical stimuli (i.e., thwarted belongingness, loss, social rejection). In Study 1, I found that emotional and psychological pain were significantly positively correlated with physical pain intensity among individuals with chronic pain. In Study 2, I used an idiographic approach to examine whether emotional and physical pain can be conceptualized as distinct constructs that prospectively predict one another for individuals with chronic pain. In two individuals, I found that emotional and physical pain did represent distinct factors; however, neither predicted the other over three-hour lags. Implications for further idiographic and nomothetic research are discussed.

Language

English (en)

Chair and Committee

Thomas Rodebaugh, PhD

Committee Members

Renne Thompson, Brian Carpenter

Comments

Permanent URL: https://doi.org/10.7936/fx22-6717

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