The relation of self‐compassion to functioning among adults with chronic pain
Open accessAbstract
Background: Previous research has shown that self‐compassion is associated with improved functioning and health outcomes among multiple chronic illnesses. However, the role of self‐compassion in chronic pain‐related functioning is understudied. The present study sought to understand the association between self‐compassion and important measures of functioning within a sample of patients with chronic pain. Methods: Treatment‐seeking individuals (N = 343 with chronic pain) that were mostly White (97.9%) and female (71%) completed a battery of assessments that included the Self‐Compassion Scale (SCS), as well as measures of pain‐related fear, depression, disability, pain acceptance, success in valued activity and use of pain coping strategies. Results: Cross‐sectional multiple regression analyses that controlled for age, sex, pain intensity and pain duration, revealed that self‐compassion accounted for a significant and unique amount of variance in all measures of functioning (r 2 range: 0.07–0.32, all p < 0.001). Beta weights indicated that higher self‐compassion was associated with lower pain‐related fear, depression and disability, as well as greater pain acceptance, success in valued activities and utilization of pain coping strategies. Conclusions: These findings suggest that self‐compassion may be a relevant adaptive process in those with chronic pain. Targeted interventions to improve self‐compassion in those with chronic pain may be useful. Significance: Self‐compassion is associated with better functioning across multiple general and pain‐specific outcomes, with the strongest associations among measures related to psychological functioning and valued living. These findings indicate that self‐compassion may be an adaptive process that could minimize the negative impact of chronic pain on important areas of life.
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Self-compassion may be effective in reducing pain interference.
“Self-compassion is positively associated with pain acceptance, and use of pain coping strategies, and may be effective in reducing pain interference. 25”
From Overview and Feasibility of a Novel Transdisciplinary Integrative Approach to High Impact Chronic Pain in Vermont (2024) · cites this paper as [25]
Self-compassion is positively associated with pain acceptance and use of pain coping strategies.
“Self-compassion is positively associated with pain acceptance, and use of pain coping strategies, and may be effective in reducing pain interference. 25”
From Overview and Feasibility of a Novel Transdisciplinary Integrative Approach to High Impact Chronic Pain in Vermont (2024) · cites this paper as [25]
Self-compassion is associated with several positive pain-related outcomes.
“Self-compassion has been associated with several positive pain-related outcomes.”
From Increasing access to pain management: Feasibility of a self-compassion psychoeducational website using a minimally monitored delivery model (2021) · cites this paper as Edwards et al., 2019
Self-compassion scores have been found to show stronger relationships to measures pertaining to emotional and social functioning, pain acceptance and engagement in value-based activities, than to measures of physical function and coping strategies that aim to reduce pain intensity.
“Self-compassion scores have been found to show stronger relationships to measures pertaining to emotional and social functioning, pain acceptance and engagement in value-based activities, than to measures of physical function and coping strategies that aim to reduce pain intensity (Edwards et al., 2019).”
From Increasing access to pain management: Feasibility of a self-compassion psychoeducational website using a minimally monitored delivery model (2021) · cites this paper as Edwards et al., 2019
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Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for Chronic Pain
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“However, those and other studies also demonstrated associations of self-compassion with disability, depression, anxiety, distress, positive affect or pain acceptance (Costa & Pinto-Gouveia, 2011; Edwards et al., 2019; Wren et al., 2012).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialCarvalho, S. A., Trindade, I. A., Duarte, J., Menezes, P. J., Patrão, B., Nogueira, M. R., Guiomar, R. N. R. M., Lapa, T. A. S. C., Pinto‐Gouveia, J., & Castilho, P. (2021) · Frontiers in Psychology · doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.630766 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
“Interestingly, self-compassion appears be associated with important ACT processes (Costa and Pinto-Gouveia, 2013; Carvalho et al., 2018a; Edwards et al., 2019), and although ACT interventions do not specifically incorporate explicit selfcompassionate exercises, self-compassion was found to mediate the change in disabi…”
BackgroundChristie, D., Yazar‐Klosinski, B., Nosova, E., Kryskow, P., Siu, W., Lessor, D., & Argento, E. (2022) · Frontiers in Psychiatry · doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.939302 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Self-compassion, enhanced through MDMA, has also been linked with improved pain outcomes (57).”
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“14 21 In chronic pain speci fi cally, cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is a recommended psychological approach for improving patient outcomes.”
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“Higher self-compassion is associated with lower depression, disability and pain-related fear, and greater pain acceptance, successful engagement in valued activities and use of pain coping strategies (30).”
BackgroundMistretta, E. G., Davis, M. C., Bartsch, E. M., & Olah, M. S. (2023) · Journal of Health Psychology · doi:10.1177/13591053231167275 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
“Unsurprisingly, self-compassion has garnered attention in the field of chronic pain as a resilience factor and target of intervention to decrease disability and improve functioning (Edwards et al., 2019; Purdie and Morley, 2016).”
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Kepelbagaian Pelajar dan Sekolah: Satu Kajian Kes di Negeri Pahang
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“22,73 Another limitation is that the control condition was a waiting list and it would be preferable to use credible intervention alternatives.”
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“25 The Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire-8 (CPAQ-8), a validated 8 item measure of chronic pain acceptance 21 is a signi fi cant predictor of reliable change in depression, anxiety and disability in populations of patients with chronic pain, above that of pain intensity alone.”
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“A compassionate approach toward the self is associated with enhanced physical and psychological well-being (Hall et al., 2013) and with pain-acceptance (Edwards et al., 2019), activity engagement (Carvalho et al., 2018), and less pain catastrophizing (Johannsen et al., 2018).”
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“…in chronic conditions self-compassion explains significant variance in several indicators of functioning (Baxter and Sirois, 2025; Hughes et al., 2021), including depression and pain anxiety (Hopkins and Moulton, 2016), after controlling for demographic and pain factors (Edwards et al., 2019).”
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- Authors
- Edwards, K. A., Pielech, M., Hickman, J., Ashworth, J., Sowden, G., & Vowles, K. E.
- Affiliations
- University of New Mexico (US)
- National Health Service (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Edwards, Karlyn A.
- Venue
- European Journal of Pain
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2019-06-11
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1538-1547
- ISSN
- 1090-3801 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-2149
- OpenAlex
- W2945551234
- Cited by
- 56
- References
- 58
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 6.43
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- eprints.keele.ac.uk
- Locations
- European Journal of Pain (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Keele Research Repository (Keele University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Portal (Queen's University Belfast) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pediatric Pain Management Techniques
- Keywords
- self-compassion, chronic pain, functioning, fear of pain, depression, disability, pain acceptance, valued activities, pain coping, psychological functioning, treatment-seeking patients
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Depression, Empathy, Female, Persons with Disabilities, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Chronic Pain
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