Enfermedades Ocupacionales

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NOTA CLÍNICA

Rev. Soc. Esp. Dolor
12: 8-16, 2005

Afrontamiento del dolor crónico: el papel de las
variables de valoración y estrategias de afrontamiento
en la predicción de la ansiedad y la depresión en una
muestra de pacientes con dolor crónico
B. Soucase 1, V. Monsalve 2 y J. F. Soriano 3

Soucase B, Monsalve V, Soriano JF. Coping with chronic pain: the role of assessmentvariables and coping strategies for the prediction of anxiety and depression in a sample of patients with chronic pain.
Rev Soc Esp Dolor 2005; 12: 8-16.

SUMMARY
Objective:
The objective of this research was to study the relations
and interactions between cognitive assessment procedures
and coping strategies proposed in the Lazarus and Folkman model (1984) as processes mediating the adaptationof patients to their pain, using as adaptation criteria the
level of anxiety (STAI/R) and depression (BDI), in order to
determine variables and coping strategies that predict a
better adaptation to chronic pain, taking the variables separately.
Material and methods:
The population study included 168 patients with chronic pain attending the Multidisciplinary Pain Unit at the
GeneralUniversity Hospital of Valencia. The patients

Doctora en Psicología. Investigador colaborador de la Fundación Valenciana para el Estudio y Tratamiento del Dolor. Profesora en la Universidad Católica San Pedro Mártir. Valencia
2
Doctor en Psicologia. Psicólogo Unidad Multidisciplinar del Dolor.
Consorcio Hospital General Universitario. Valencia.
3
Profesor Titular. Departamento de Personalidad,Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos. Facultad de Psicología. Universidad de Valencia. Valencia
1

Recibido: 11-05-04.
A ceptado: 14-12-04.

answered to a first set of questionnaires used to record social and demographical data (age, sex, marital status, education level), clinical diagnosis and pain severity measured
on a visual analogical scale (VAS). Afterwards, they answered to anotherset of questionnaires focused on the assessment of pain, such as pain assessment variables, pain
coping strategies (PCS), and level of anxiety and depression measured on STAI/R and BDI, respectively.
Results and conclusions:
On a descriptive level and considering the whole study
population, the results show that pain severity reported by
patients ranged between moderate and severe, thatpatients perceived their pain as exceeding their own coping
resources and that patients rated low their self-effectiveness in order to manage, control or relieve pain, this being
a disabling and limiting factor in their everyday life. In our
study population, the most frequently used strategies for
coping with pain were self-assertion, search of information
and religion, and their anxiety anddepression scores were
moderate or high. On a predictive level, both anxiety and
depression can be mainly explained by assessment variables, being the emotional repression the most relevant
variable for predicting anxiety and the feeling of loss the
most relevant variable for predicting depression (things
that could be done and enjoyed in the past, but not anymore). © 2005 Sociedad Española delDolor. Published by
Arán Ediciones, S.L.
Key words: Chronic pain. Assessment. Anxiety. Depression. Transactional model.

RESUMEN
Objetivo:
El objetivo de la investigación consiste en estudiar las
relaciones e interacciones existentes entre los procesos
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AFRONTAMIENTO DEL DOLOR CRÓNICO

d e valoración cognitiva y estrategias de afrontamiento
afrontamiento propuestos en el modelo deLazarus y
Folkman (1984) como procesos mediadores en el ajuste
de los pacientes su dolor, utilizando como criterio de
adaptación el nivel de ansiedad (STAI/R) y depresión
(BDI), con la finalidad de poder determinar qué variables
de valoración y qué estrategias de afrontamiento predicen
un mejor ajuste al dolor crónico, tomando las variables
criterio por separado.
Material y métodos:
La...