Mark P. Jensen

Background The negative consequences of prescription opioid misuse and opioid use disorder make it relevant to identify factors associated with this problem in individuals with chronic pain. This cross-sectional study aimed at identifying subgroups of people with chronic pain based on their psychological profiles, prescription opioid misuse, craving, and withdrawal. Methods The sample comprised 185 individuals with chronic pain. We performed hierarchical cluster analysis on impulsivity, anxiety sensitivity, pain acceptance, pain intensity, opioid misuse, craving, and withdrawal. Results The four-cluster solution was the optimal one. Misuse, craving, and anxiety sensitivity were higher among people in the Severe-problems cluster than among people in the other three clusters. Withdrawal was the highest in the High-withdrawal cluster. Impulsivity was higher among people in the Severe-problems and High-withdrawal clusters than those in the Moderate-problems and Mild-problems clusters. Pain acceptance was higher among people in the Mild-problems cluster than among people in the other three clusters. Anxiety sensitivity and misuse were higher among people in the Moderate-problems cluster than among people in the Mild-problems cluster. Conclusions These results support that impulsivity, anxiety sensitivity, and pain acceptance are useful constructs to identify subgroups of people with chronic pain according to their level of prescription opioid misuse, craving, and withdrawal. The results of this study may help in selecting the early intervention most suitable for each of the identified profiles...

BackgroundInterventions used in chronic pain management do not routinely use clinical hypnosis (CH), despite evidence to suggest its effectiveness in improving pain outcomes. This study aimed to explore the beliefs and attitudes of clinicians’ towards the implementation of CH in chronic pain management.MethodWe conducted a cross-sectional qualitative analysis following online CH training. Clinicians working in three tertiary pain clinics, were recruited to participate in the online training program and invited to focus groups following completion of the training to explore beliefs and attitudes towards CH and the training program.ResultsWe identified three themes regarding barriers and two themes regarding facilitators to implementation of CH. Barriers: (i) misconceptions about CH, (ii) reduced confidence in implementing CH, and (iii) concerns about integrating CH with current treatment frameworks. Facilitators: (i …

The prevalence of chronic pain is higher among American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) individuals than any other groups in the United States. However, there are no culturally congruent psychological pain interventions for AI/AN populations, and access to chronic pain interventions for AI/AN individuals remains low. To begin to address the need for accessible and culturally appropriate pain treatment for AI/AN individuals, University of Washington researchers collaborated with the Indian Health Services – Yakama Service Unit to conduct a series of focus groups to identify: (1) pain treatment preferences among AI/AN individuals with chronic pain; (2) priorities for pain management outcome domains among AI/AN individuals with chronic pain; and (3) the feasibility of different treatment approaches with Yakama Service Unit providers. Sixteen AI/AN individuals with chronic pain and nine providers participated …

Objectives The aim of this study is to compare the use of pain coping strategies and pain catastrophizing in youth with and without cerebral palsy (CP), and to examine how these two groups differ with respect to the associations between pain coping, catastrophizing, and measures of psychological function and sleep disturbance. Methods Twenty-seven individuals with CP and 49 healthy controls aged 15–22 were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Pain was assessed using a semi-structured interviews and participants completed measures of pain coping, pain catastrophizing, psychological function, and sleep. Results Youth with CP used information seeking and problem solving (p = 0.003, Cohen’s d (d) = −0.80) and sought social support (p = 0.044, d = −0.51) less often, and used internalizing as a coping …

The Korean Scale for Internet Addiction (K-Scale) was developed in Korea for assessing addictive internet behaviors. This study aims to adopt K-Scale and examine its psychometric properties in Japanese adolescents. In 2014, 589 (36.0% boys) high school students (Grade 10–12) from Japan completed a survey, including items of Japanese versions of K-Scale and Smartphone Scale for Smartphone Addiction (S-Scale). Model fit indices of the original four-factor structure, three-factor structure obtained from exploratory factor analysis, and improved two-factor structure of K-Scale were computed using confirmatory factor analysis, with internal reliability of included items reported. The convergent validity of K-Scale was tested against self-rated internet addiction, and S-Scale using multiple regression models. The results showed that a second-order two-factor 13-item structure was the most parsimonious model (NFI …

Psychosocial interventions for people with chronic pain produce significant improvements in outcomes, but these effects on average are modest with much variability in the benefits conferred on individuals. To enhance the magnitude of treatment effects, characteristics of people that might predict the degree to which they respond more or less well could be identified. People with chronic low back pain (N = 521) participated in a randomized controlled trial which compared cognitive therapy, mindfulness-based stress reduction, behavior therapy and treatment as usual. Hypotheses regarding predictors and/or moderators were based on the Limit, Activate, and Enhance model; developed to predict and explain moderators/predictors of psychosocial pain treatments. Results were: 1) low levels of cognitive/behavioral function at pre-treatment predicted favorable pre- to post-treatment outcomes; 2) favorable expectations …

Cross-national research using data from the Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey showed an increase in the prevalence of chronic back pain from 2002 to 2014. However, it is unknown if this trend has persisted beyond 2014. The aims of this study were to 1) determine if the prevalence of chronic back pain in girls and boys aged 11, 13, and 15 continued to increase from 2014 to 2018 and if this was the case, 2) examine whether this increase in the prevalence of chronic back pain between 2002 and 2018 was explained indirectly by increases in sleep difficulties and psychological symptoms. Data from 7,89,596 adolescents retrieved from 5 waves of the HBSC survey conducted in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018 in 32 countries/regions were used. Logistic regressions and path analyses were conducted. Results showed an overall increase of .5% in the prevalence of chronic back pain between …

Purpose/Objective: This study sought to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a brief measure of the quality of therapist treatment delivery that would be applicable for use across different types of psychosocial chronic pain treatments: the Therapist Quality Scale (TQS). Research Method/Design: An initial pool of 14 items was adapted from existing measures, with items selected that are relevant across interventions tested in a parent trial comparing an 8-week, group, Zoom-delivered mindfulness meditation, cognitive therapy, and behavioral activation for chronic back pain from which data for this study were obtained. A random selection of 25% of video-recorded sessions from each cohort was coded for therapist quality (two randomly selected sessions per group), with 66 sessions included in the final analyses (n= 33 completed pairs). Items were coded on a 7-point Likert-type scale. Exploratory factor …