The relationship between greater mindfulness and less subjective experience of chronic pain: Mediating functions of pain management self‐efficacy and emotional intelligence
Open accessAbstract
Previous research shows a connection between greater mindfulness and less subjective experience of pain. The present study examined whether pain management self‐efficacy and emotional intelligence mediate this relationship in individuals experiencing chronic pain. Two hundred participants experiencing chronic pain completed measures of mindfulness, experience of pain, pain management self‐efficacy, and emotional intelligence. Greater mindfulness was associated with less subjective experience of pain, greater pain management self‐efficacy, and more emotional intelligence. More pain management self‐efficacy and higher emotional intelligence were associated with less subjective experience of pain. Emotional intelligence and pain management self‐efficacy significantly mediated the relationship between mindfulness and pain. The connection between greater mindfulness and less subjective experience of pain may be due to mindfulness providing a foundation for emotional functioning and behavioural regulation that result in reductions in the experience of pain.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
The short form of the Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI-14) demonstrated adequate internal consistency and construct validity in healthy and clinical samples and significant inverse relationships with pain-related variables in individuals with chronic pain.
“The FMI-14 demonstrated adequate internal consistency and construct validity in healthy and clinical samples [36, 37] and significant inverse relationships with pain-related variables in individuals with chronic pain [38].”
From Feasibility and Acceptability of an Abbreviated, Four-Week Mindfulness Program for Chronic Pain Management. (2020) · cites this paper as [38]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Effects of mindfulness on psychological health: A review of empirical studies
Keng, S.-L., Smoski, M. J., & Robins, C. J. (2011) · Clinical Psychology Review · doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2011.04.006 · Cited by 2,687 · cited 5× · see citing works
“Mindfulness may promote positive emotional functioning and effective behavioural regulation (Keng et al., 2011).”
BackgroundResultInfluentialDo Psychosocial and Study Skill Factors Predict College Outcomes? A Meta-Analysis.
Robbins, S. B., Lauver, K., Le, H., Davis, D., Langley, R., & Carlstrom, A. (2004) · Psychological Bulletin · doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.2.261 · Cited by 2,479 · see citing works
The clinical use of mindfulness meditation for the self-regulation of chronic pain
Kabat-Zinn, J., Lipworth, L., & Burney, R. (1985) · Journal of Behavioral Medicine · doi:10.1007/bf00845519 · Cited by 1,745 · see citing works
Chiesa, A., & Serretti, A. (2009) · The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine · doi:10.1089/acm.2008.0495 · Cited by 1,681 · cited 3× · see citing works
“Evidence from intervention studies suggests that increasing mindfulness may reduce subjective experience of pain (Chiesa & Serretti, 2009; Kabat-Zinn, Lipworth, & Burney, 1985; Rosenzweig, Greeson, Reibel, et al., 2010).”
BackgroundMeasuring mindfulness—The Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory (FMI)
Walach, H., Buchheld, N., Buttenmüller, V., Kleinknecht, N., & Schmidt, S. (2006) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2005.11.025 · Cited by 1,475 · see citing works
The prevalence of chronic pain in United States adults: Results of an Internet-based survey
Johannes, C. B., Le, T. K., Zhou, X., Johnston, J. A., & Dworkin, R. H. (2010) · The Journal of Pain · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2010.07.002 · Cited by 1,252 · see citing works
On the dimensional structure of emotional intelligence
Petrides, K. V., & Furnham, A. (2000) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/s0191-8869(99)00195-6 · Cited by 1,226 · see citing works
Brain Mechanisms Supporting the Modulation of Pain by Mindfulness Meditation
Zeidan, F., Martucci, K. T., Kraft, R. A., Gordon, N. S., McHaffie, J. G., & Coghill, R. C. (2011) · The Journal of Neuroscience · doi:10.1523/jneurosci.5791-10.2011 · Cited by 640 · see citing works
Increasing emotional intelligence: (How) is it possible?
Nelis, D., Quoidbach, J., Mikolajczak, M., & Hansenne, M. (2009) · Personality and Individual Differences · doi:10.1016/j.paid.2009.01.046 · Cited by 558 · see citing works
Rosenzweig, S., Greeson, J. M., Reibel, D. K., Green, J. S., Jasser, S. A., & Beasley, D. (2010) · Journal of Psychosomatic Research · doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2009.03.010 · Cited by 517 · see citing works
Nelis, D., Kotsou, I., Quoidbach, J., Hansenne, M., Weytens, F., Dupuis, P., & Mikolajczak, M. (2011) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0021554 · Cited by 472 · see citing works
Arnstein, P., Caudill, M., Mandle, C. L., Norris, A., & Beasley, R. (1999) · Pain · doi:10.1016/s0304-3959(98)00220-6 · Cited by 436 · see citing works
Cortical thickness and pain sensitivity in zen meditators.
Grant, J. A., Courtemanche, J., Duerden, E. G., Duncan, G. H., & Rainville, P. (2010) · Emotion · doi:10.1037/a0018334 · Cited by 395 · see citing works
Mavroveli, S., Petrides, K. V., Rieffe, C., & Bakker, F. (2007) · British Journal of Developmental Psychology · doi:10.1348/026151006x118577 · Cited by 386 · see citing works
Fine, P. G. (2011) · Pain Medicine · doi:10.1111/j.1526-4637.2011.01187.x · Cited by 314 · cited 1× · see citing works
“Chronic pain negatively impacts realms such as occupational functioning, sleep, and cognitive processing (Fine, 2011).”
BackgroundGard, T., Holzel, B. K., Sack, A. T., Hempel, H., Lazar, S. W., Vaitl, D., & Ott, U. (2012) · Cerebral Cortex · doi:10.1093/cercor/bhr352 · Cited by 276 · see citing works
Can pain be managed through the Internet? A systematic review of randomized controlled trials
Bender, J. L., Radhakrishnan, A., Diorio, C., Englesakis, M., & Jadad, A. R. (2011) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2011.02.012 · Cited by 223 · see citing works
A meta-analytic review of the effects of mindfulness meditation on telomerase activity
Schutte, N. S., & Malouff, J. M. (2014) · Psychoneuroendocrinology · doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.12.017 · Cited by 171 · cited 3× · see citing works
“…indicates that interventions can influence mindfulness (Kabat-Zinn et al., 1985; Rosenzweig et al., 2010), emotional intelligence (Nelis et al., 2011; Nelis, Quoidbach, Mikolajczak, & Hansenne, 2009; Schutte & Malouff, 2012, 2013a), and pain management self-efficacy (Nicholas et al., 2013).”
BackgroundSelf-citationSelf-management intervention for chronic pain in older adults: A randomised controlled trial
Nicholas, M. K., Asghari, A., Blyth, F. M., Wood, B. M., Murray, R., McCabe, R., Brnabic, A., Beeston, L., Corbett, M., Sherrington, C., et al. (2013) · Pain · doi:10.1016/j.pain.2013.02.009 · Cited by 137 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 18
- Bandurra, A. (1977). Self efficacy: Towards a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychological Review, 84, 191-215.
- Baron, R., & Kenny, D. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 1173-1182.
- Breivik, H., Collett, B., Ventafridda, V., Cohen, R., & Gallacher, D. (2006). Survey of chronic pain in Europe: Prevalence, impact on daily life, and treatment. European Journal of Pain, 10, 287-287.
- Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2003). The benefits of being present: Mindfulness and its role in psychological well-being. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 84, 822-848.
- Dacre Pool, L., & Qualter, P. (2013). Emotional self-efficacy, gradu- ate employability, and career satisfaction: Testing the associations. Australian Journal of Psychology, 65, 214-223.
- Downey, L. A., Johnston, P. J., Hansen, K., Birney, J., & Stough, C. (2010). Investigating the mediating effects of emotional intelli- gence and coping on problem behaviours in adolescents. Austral- ian Journal of Psychology, 62, 20-29.
- Merskey, H. (2000). Pain, psychogenesis, and psychiatric diagnosis. International Review of Psychiatry, 12, 99-102.
- Neubauer, A. C., & Freudenthaler, H. H. (2005). Models of emo- tional intelligence. In R. Schultz & R. D. Roberts (Eds.), Emotional intelligence: An international handbook (pp. 31-50). Cambridge, MA: Hogrefe.
- Nicholas, M. K. (1989). Self-efficacy and chronic pain. Paper presented at the annual conference of the British Psychological Society, St.
- Nicholas, M. K. (2007). The pain self-efficacy questionnaire: Taking pain into account. European Journal of Pain, 11, 153-163.
- Petrides, K. V., Pita, R., & Kokkinaki, F. (2007). The location of trait emotional intelligence in personality factor space. British Journal of Psychology, 98, 273-289.
- Ruiz-Aranda, D., Salguero, J. M., & Fernandez-Berrocal, P. (2011). Emotional intelligence and acute pain: The mediating effect of negative affect. Journal of Pain, 12, 1190-1196.
- Schutte, N. S., & Malouff, J. M. (2013a). Increasing emotional intel- ligence through training: Current status and future directions. International Journal of Emotional Education, 5, 56-72.
- Schutte, N. S., & Malouff, J. M. (2013b). Adaptive emotional func- tioning: A comprehensive model of emotional intelligence. In C. Mohiyeddini (Ed.), Psychology of emotions (pp. 469-488). Hauppauge, New York: Nova Science Publishers.
- Schutte, N. S., Malouff, J. M., & Bhullar, N. (2009). The assessing emotions scale. In C. Stough, D. Saklofske, & J. Parker (Eds.), The assessment of emotional intelligence (pp. 119-135). New York: Springer.
- Schutte, N. S., Thorsteinsson, E. B., Hine, D. W., Foster, R., Cauchi, A., & Binns, C. (2010). Experiential and rational processing styles, emotional intelligence and wellbeing. Australian Journal of Psychology, 62, 14-19.
- Strand, L. I., Ljunggren, A. E., Bogen, B., Ask, T., & Johnsen, T. B. (2008). The short form McGill Pain Questionnaire as an outcome measure: Test-retest reliability and responsiveness to change. European Journal of Pain, 12, 917-925.
- Wu, A., Tang, C. S., & Yogo, M. (2013). Death anxiety, altruism, self-efficacy, and organ donation intention among Japanese college students: A moderated mediation analysis. Australian Journal of Psychology, 65, 115-123.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Brintz, C. E., Roth, I., Faurot, K., Rao, S., & Gaylord, S. A. (2020) · Pain Medicine · doi:10.1093/pm/pnaa208 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
A Prescription for Wellness in Early PD: Just What the Doctor Ordered
McDaniels, B., Pontone, G. M., Keener, A. M., & Subramanian, I. (2023) · Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry and Neurology · doi:10.1177/08919887231164358 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Sinha, N. K., Kumar, P., Kumar, S., & Priyadarshi, P. (2021) · IIM Kozhikode Society & Management Review · doi:10.1177/2277975220965346 · Cited by 13 · see citing works
- Authors
- Wright, C. J., & Schutte, N. S.
- Affiliations
- University of New England (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Schutte, Nicola S.
- ORCID
- Schutte, Nicola S.
- Venue
- Australian Journal of Psychology
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2014-09-01
- Volume
- 66
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 181-186
- ISSN
- 0004-9530 (ISSN-L)
- 1742-9536
- OpenAlex
- W2106136031
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 2 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 3 · 2014: 2
- FWCI
- 1.85
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Australian Journal of Psychology (publishedVersion)
- RUNE (Research UNE) (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
- mindfulness, chronic pain, emotional intelligence, subjective pain, mediation, pain coping, emotion regulation
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
