Helplessness as a Mediator of Health Status in Fibromyalgia

Based on learned helplessness theory, thisresearch evaluated a model in which helplessness andperceived control (internality) were hypothesized tomediate the effects of pain and disability(quality-of-well-being)on depression and pain behavior in 122participants with fibromyalgia. Path analytic proce...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCognitive therapy and research Vol. 23; no. 2; p. 181
Main Authors Nicassio, Perry M, Schuman, Catherine, Radojevic, Vesna, Weisman, Michael H
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York Springer Nature B.V 01.04.1999
Subjects
Arthritis
Chronic pain
Fibromyalgia
United States > US
California
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Summary:Based on learned helplessness theory, thisresearch evaluated a model in which helplessness andperceived control (internality) were hypothesized tomediate the effects of pain and disability(quality-of-well-being)on depression and pain behavior in 122participants with fibromyalgia. Path analytic proceduresrevealed that helplessness partially mediated theeffects of pain and disability on depression, and fullymediated the effects ofpain on self-reported painbehavior. Disability was an independent predictor ofboth self-reported and observed pain behavior.Beliefs ininternality were unrelated to depression and painbehavior measures, and thus did not serve in amediational capacity. The findings underscore theimportance of the helplessness construct infibromyalgia, a chronic pain syndrome of unknownetiology.
ISSN:0147-5916
1573-2819
DOI:10.1023/A:1018731312503