Jennifer L. Boothby

Catastrophizing and perceived partner responses to pain.

&NA; This study examined the relationship between catastrophizing and patient‐perceived partner responses to pain behaviors. The Catastrophizing subscale of the Cognitive Coping Strategy Inventory and the West Haven–Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory were completed by 62 adult chronic pain patients. Consistent with past research, catastrophizing and patient‐perceived solicitous partner behaviors were positively correlated with negative pain outcomes. The communal coping theory of catastrophizing suggests that catastrophizing might be undertaken to solicit support and empathy from others. However, catastrophizing was not related to perceived solicitous partner behavior in this study. Rather, catastrophizing was associated with perceived punishing partner responses. Implications are that catastrophizing and perceived solicitous partner behaviors are independently associated with pain and that catastrophizing may not be reinforced by empathy from significant others.

A National Survey of Correctional Psychologists

Eight hundred psychologists working in U.S. prison systems were surveyed to provide a comprehensive profile of correctional psychology. The number of prison-based psychologists has doubled in the past 20 years. They are predominantly Caucasian males who work with offenders representing a wide spectrum of security levels and psychological problems. Administrative duties have grown and now occupy about one third of professional time. The authors also report preferred therapy modalities, mental health issues addressed in treatment, use of assessment instruments, and professional issues such as training and predictions of future correctional work. The authors discuss these results highlighting issues of professional identity, concerns about treatment for the severely mentally ill, calls for group-based treatments, and uses of task-specific assessment instruments. The authors also suggest attention be devoted to outcome assessment and to the issues of training and recruiting well-prepared psychologists for the challenging and critical role of correctional psychologist.

The relation between pain beliefs, negative thoughts, and psychosocial functioning in chronic pain patients.

Abstract Cognitions and beliefs appear important in predicting adjustment to chronic pain. The current study examines how cognitions and beliefs are related to psychosocial functioning. One hundred and sixty‐three chronic pain out‐patients were assessed. Regression analyses were performed using scores on the Pain Beliefs and Perceptions Inventory and the Inventory of Negative Thoughts in Response to Pain as predictor variables and responses to the West Haven Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory as criterion variables. Pain cognitions and pain beliefs were correlated. After controlling for demographics, employment status and pain severity, pain beliefs and cognitions accounted for a significant amount of the variance in general activity, pain interference, and affective distress. Negative cognitions, particularly negative self‐statements, were more predictive of outcome than pain beliefs. Although these data are correlational, they provide additional support for a biopsychosocial model of adjustment to chronic pain.

Personality factors in the explanation of sex differences in pain catastrophizing and response to experimental pain.

Objective:To examine the effects of personality and pain catastrophizing upon pain tolerance and pain ratings and to examine the impact of an experimental pain induction on subsequent ratings of catastrophizing. Method:Two hundred nineteen college students participated in a cold pressor task. Sex-differentiating personality constructs were measured by the Extended Personal Attributes Questionnaire. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale was given before and after the cold pressor task. Results:A path-analytic model fit the data well and permitted tests of explanatory relationships. Mediational analyses demonstrated that sex differences in catastrophizing were explained by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire Masculinity–Femininity and Verbal Passive-Aggressiveness scales. Pain tolerance and pain ratings differed significantly between men and women, but Masculinity–Femininity partially mediated those sex–pain relationships. Additionally, higher pain ratings and lower pain tolerance were independently associated with increased catastrophizing after the cold pressor task. Conclusions:The results suggest that sex differences in catastrophizing and pain responsivity are partially accounted for by the dispositional tendency to describe oneself as emotionally vulnerable. The findings also suggest that pain catastrophizing may be situational as well as dispositional.

Targeted treatment of catastrophizing for the management of chronic pain

Pain catastrophizing refers to a negative mental set brought to bear during the experience of pain. Individuals who catastrophize often feel helpless about controlling their pain, ruminate about painful sensations, and expect bad outcomes. Not surprisingly, such individuals often fail to improve with treatment. This paper provides an assessment tool and outlines a cognitive-behavioral group treatment approach for chronic pain that is specifically designed to reduce catastrophizing. Principles from stress management, cognitive therapy for depression, assertiveness training, and communal coping models are incorporated within the treatment framework to address specific needs posed by catastrophizing. Suggestions are provided for organizing treatment sessions and for assigning homework based on treatment principles.

Communal coping model of catastrophizing: conceptual model building

A communal coping model (CCM) of the relation between catastrophizing and pain is of interest because it challenges a number of previously held assumptions about how individuals cope with pain. The traditional perspective has been that coping efforts are mobilized to reduce the physical and emotional discomfort associated with pain. The CCM suggests that pain reduction may not always be the primary goal of coping, and that for some individuals, interpersonal goals may characterize many of their coping efforts. Within this conception, catastrophic thinking is not simply a maladaptive form of responding that contributes to heightened pain experience, but it is also a part of a broader interpersonal orientation to coping with distress. Sullivan et al. (2001) suggested that high catastrophizers might engage in exaggerated expression of their pain as a means of maximizing social proximity and support. The CCM was proposed as a heuristic to encourage exploration of the interpersonal correlates and social contextual factors associated with pain experience. Although the model is not a fully developed theory, a number of studies have recently been conducted that have purported to provide tests of the CCM. The results of these studies might be better viewed as data that contribute to elaboration or refinement of the CCM than as specific tests of predictions derived from the model. The Giardino et al. (2003) study is another contribution to the empirical literature on the CCM. Their results suggest that the relationships between catastrophizing and pain can be a function of characteristics of individuals in the social environments of pain patients. Although their research did pertain to interpersonal factors and the relation between catastrophizing and pain, it did not address the communicative or support seeking dimensions, which are integral to the CCM in its original conception. Instead, Giardino et al. appealed to operant principles to account for their findings. The implications of this alteration in theoretical emphasis are not clear, because the empirical consequences of this and other theoretical issues are not easily specified within current formulations of the CCM. Theory testing calls for a more explicit statement of the CCM constructs and their interrelationships than is currently available. As a start toward increased formalization of the CCM, a simple model, which is shown in Fig. 1, was constructed to describe the data and theorizing of Giardino et al. Constructs are represented by rectangles, and hypothesized explanatory relationships are specified as paths (arrows) from one construct to another (Jöreskog and Sörbom, 1996). The model in Fig. 1 shows standardized path coefficients from a path analysis of the data provided in Tables 2 and 3 of Giardino et al.’s paper. The model fits the Giardino et al. data very well, and the predicted and actual covariance matrices do not deviate significantly, x 2 (3, N 1⁄4 74) 1⁄4 2.27, p . 0:50. All paths in the model are significant (p , 0:05). The model in Fig. 1 is not intended to resolve the theoretical issue of social communication versus social reinforcement, but it does make distinctions that are relevant to theory and to the Giardino et al. research. The model distinguishes between perceived pain intensity (PAIN_S) and the affective concomitants of pain (PAIN_A), and it makes explicit the separation between catastrophic thinking (CAT_T) and catastrophizing behaviors (CAT_B). Also explicit in the model are causal hypotheses regarding solicitousness (of spouse or caregiver) and its relationship to catastrophizing and pain. Because Giardino et al. assessed solicitude from the point of view of the patient, it is designated as ‘PT_SOL’. Although CAT_B was not measured by Giardino et al. it is included, as a dotted rectangle, because of its importance to this commentary. The proposed model makes explicit some of the theoretical assumptions and hypotheses from the Giardino et al. study, and it offers what is perhaps a clearer picture of some of their results. For example, the model indicates that the effects of PT_SOL on reported pain are largely mediated through CAT_T, but PT_SOL also has a direct effect on PAIN_A. Although the model does not include the interactions explicitly, the thick lines indicate the paths that were affected by interactions in the causal determination of PAIN_S and PAIN_A from CAT_T. According to the Giardino et al. results, the mediating influence of CAT_T is moderated by other variables (i.e. relationship type for PAIN_S and PT_SOL for PAIN_A). Although the proposed model does not offer a test of the social reinforcement (operant) conception of the CCM, it does provide a framework for discussion. One inference from the operant model could be that relationships between perceived solicitousness and catastrophizing behavior are more important than relationships between perceived solicitousness and catastrophizing thoughts. It is possible, for example, that the punishing behavior of a spouse could

Pain beliefs and coping attempts

A reduction of maladaptive responses to pain is crucial in adjustment to chronic painful states. However, previous research has also demonstrated that adjustment to pain is predicted by interactions between coping attempts and characteristics of individuals. Therefore, we contend that examination of what patients should do, as well as what they should not do is necessary. We propose an alternate model of pain adjustment, within which the constructs of beliefs and coping are separated. Also, catastrophizing is conceptualized as a secondary appraisal, rather than a failed coping attempt. We discuss our assertions within the context of the appropriate distinction between mediator and moderator variables.

Instructor Perceptions of Plagiarism: Are We Finding Common Ground?.

This study examined instructor views of what constitutes plagiarism. The authors collected questionnaire data from 158 participants recruited through three teaching-related electronic listservs. Results showed that most participants agreed that behaviors that claim credit for someone else’s work constituted plagiarism. Instructors differed in their perceptions of whether “recycling” one’s work was plagiarism. Exploratory analyses showed that being likely to “do nothing” in response to plagiarism was related to perceiving recycling as appropriate, whereas being likely to consult the appropriate university committee when faced with plagiarism was related to perceiving recycling as inappropriate. Thus, common ground is emerging in definitions of plagiarism, though instructors should discuss among themselves, and clarify to students, the appropriateness of recycling one’s work.

Job satisfaction of correctional psychologists: Implications for recruitment and retention

Do correctional psychologists report levels of job satisfaction consistent with that of psychologists working in other professional areas? Although the number of professionals choosing to work in correctional environmentsis increasing, relatively little has been written about their job-related experiences. This article explored issues pertaining to career satisfaction among 800 correctional psychologists. Overall, these professionals described a moderate level of job satisfaction. Job dimensions such as safety, job security, and relationships with clients were ranked as most satisfying, whereas opportunities for advancement and professional atmosphere were ranked as least satisfying. Psychologists working in federal prisons or less crowded facilities were comparatively more satisfied. Implications for recruiting and retaining psychologists are highlighted.

Attitudes Regarding the Compassionate Release of Terminally Ill Offenders

Compassionate release, or medical parole, allows the early release of terminally ill offenders so that they may spend time with loved ones. Such programs have received little attention from psychological researchers. This study examines attitudes of undergraduate students toward compassionate release and factors that affect these attitudes. A total of 163 participants completed questionnaires regarding attitudes toward compassionate release, attitudes toward prisoners, and fear of AIDS. Results indicate that undergraduate students have negative attitudes toward compassionate release of offenders and toward prisoners, in general, with negative attitudes toward prisoners significantly associated with negative attitudes toward compassionate release. Fear of AIDS, however, was not associated with negative attitudes toward compassionate release, as was expected. Results suggest that negative attitudes toward compassionate release and prisoners may be an obstacle to the implementation of medical parole policies. Research examining attitudes in a broader community sample is needed.