Open AccessMeaning in Life and Pain: The Differential Effects of Coherence, Purpose, and Mattering on Pain Severity, Frequency, and the Development of Chronic Pain
Author(s) -
Brandon L. Boring,
Joseph Maffly-Kipp,
Vani A. Mathur,
Joshua A. Hicks
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
journal of pain research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.888
H-Index - 49
ISSN - 1178-7090
DOI - 10.2147/jpr.s338691
Subject(s) - medicine , chronic pain , meaning (existential) , pain catastrophizing , physical therapy , psychology , psychotherapist
Meaning in life is consistently associated with better health outcomes across a range of mental and physical domains. However, meaning in life is a complex construct involving three distinct facets: coherence, purpose, and mattering. While these facets have been studied individually in relation to pain, they have not been assessed concurrently to parse out their potential distinct contributions to pain outcomes. We sought to identify the unique relationships of these individual facets of meaning with pain experiences and specify the components associated with pain-related resilience.