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. 2023 Sep;30(3):501-519.
doi: 10.1007/s10880-022-09921-5. Epub 2022 Nov 7.

The Role of Pain Catastrophizing, Emotional Intelligence, and Pain Intensity in the Quality of Life of Cancer Patients with Chronic Pain

Fotios Anagnostopoulos  1 , Aristi Paraponiari  2 , Konstantinos Kafetsios  3
Affiliations

The Role of Pain Catastrophizing, Emotional Intelligence, and Pain Intensity in the Quality of Life of Cancer Patients with Chronic Pain

Fotios Anagnostopoulos et al. J Clin Psychol Med Settings. 2023 Sep.

Abstract

Pain catastrophizing (PC) is a negative cognitive distortion to actual or anticipated pain. This study aims to investigate the relationship between pain catastrophizing, emotional intelligence, pain intensity, and quality of life (QoL) in cancer patients with chronic pain. Eighty-nine outpatients with chronic pain attending pain clinics and palliative care units were recruited. Participants were men (42.7%) and women (57.3%) with an average age of 56.44 years (SD = 14.82). Self-report psychological measures were completed, including a measure of emotional intelligence, a standard measure of PC, a scale assessing pain intensity, and a scale measuring QoL. The PC scale was found to assess three correlated yet different dimensions of pain catastrophizing (helplessness, magnification, and rumination). Moreover, as expected, patients with PC scale scores ≥ 30 had lower scores in functional QoL dimensions and higher scores in the fatigue, pain, and insomnia symptom dimensions. Regression analyses demonstrated that PC (B = - 0.391, p = 0.004), pain intensity (B = - 1.133, p < 0.001), and education (B = 2.915, p = 0.017) remained the only significant variables related to QoL, when controlling for demographic and clinical confounders. Regarding mediating effects, PC and pain intensity were jointly found to be significant mediators in the relationship between emotional intelligence and QoL. Results are discussed in the context of the clinical implications regarding interventions designed to improve cancer patients' quality of life and offer new insight, understanding, and evaluation targets in the field of pain management.

Keywords: Cancer patients; Chronic pain; Emotional intelligence; Pain catastrophizing; Quality of life.

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Conflict of interest statement

Fotios Anagnostopoulos, Aristi Paraponiari, and Konstantinos Kafetsios have no financial or proprietary interests in any material discussed in this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Standardized solution for the revised Model 3 (model M3R) with three correlated first-order factors based on confirmatory factor analysis. Numbers enclosed in rectangles indicate measurement errors and those in the middle of straight lines indicate factor loadings. Curved lines indicate correlations
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mediation model being tested. Unstandardized parameter estimates and standard errors (in parentheses) for direct effects among psychological variables. Dashed arrows indicate nonsignificant paths.*p < 0.05; ***p < 0.001
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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