Psychological distress and adaptation to chronic pain: Symptomatology in dysfunctional, interpersonally distressed, and adaptive copers

Objectives: To investigate psychological symptomatology and distress in sub groups of chronic pain patients with different adaptation styles. Methods: Subjects were 660 patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain who w ere tested by the combined use of the two large and much used psychological inventories-the Multidimensional Pain Inventory and the Symptom Checklist- 90-Revised. Results: The results showed significant differences between the three adapt ation profiles, dysfunctional, interpersonally distressed, and adaptive cop ers. Adaptive copers were equally and less distressed than a sample from a normal population. Conclusion: This study calls attention to the risk of blind faith of the 'o bjectiveness' of psychometric scales and of the use of them as the sole bas is for designing treatments. More attention seems to be needed to get more information about the 'healthy' group of adaptive copers by extended clinic al judgment. (C) 2001 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved.