The DOI matches its Crossref record; 45 of the 46 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Psychological functioning of people living with chronic pain: a meta-analytic review
Abstract
Objectives Chronic pain (CP; >3 months) is a common condition that is associated with significant psychological problems. Many people with CP do not fit into discrete diagnostic categories, limiting the applicability of research that is specific to a particular pain diagnosis. This meta-analysis synthesized the large extant literature from a general CP, rather than diagnosis-specific, perspective to systematically identify and compare the psychological problems most commonly associated with CP. Methods Four databases were searched from inception to December 2013 (PsychINFO, The Cochrane Library, Scopus, and PubMed) for studies comparing the psychological functioning of adults with CP to healthy controls. Data from 110 studies were meta-analysed and Cohen's d effect sizes calculated. Results The CP group reported experiencing significant problems in a range of psychological domains (depression, anxiety, somatization, anger/hostility, self-efficacy, self-esteem and general emotional functioning), with the largest effects observed for pain anxiety/concern and somatization; followed by anxiety and self-efficacy; and then depression, anger/hostility, self-esteem and general emotional functioning. Conclusions This study demonstrates, for the first time, that individuals with CP are more likely to experience physically focussed psychological problems than other psychological problems and that, unlike self-efficacy, fear of pain is intrinsically tied to the CP experience. This challe…
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“This draws on previous empirical findings that subjective beliefs of low self-efficacy can generalize beyond the specific situation (Bandura, 1977; Burke et al., 2015) and might result in a domain-unspecific vulnerability”
From Allostatic Self-efficacy: A Metacognitive Theory of Dyshomeostasis-Induced Fatigue and Depression (2016) · cites this paper as Burke et al., 2015
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“On the other hand, CP commonly co-occurs with anxiety and depression,2-4 which adds more complications to the health status of the patients.”
From Psychological interventions for depression and anxiety: a systematic review and meta-analysis of Iranian chronic pain trials. (2020) · cites this paper as [3]
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“there is a wealth of evidence that symptoms of depression, anxiety, and emotional distress contribute strongly (more strongly than pain intensity, in many studies) to key long-term outcomes of persistent pain such as physical disability 35, 43–46, work disability 47, healthcare costs 48, 49, mortality 50–53, and suicide 22, 54, 55.”
From Evaluating psychosocial contributions to chronic pain outcomes (2018) · cites this paper as [48]
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“…and psychosocial consequences are also highly prevalent, including emotional dysregulation, anxiety, and depressive symptoms (Aaron et al., 2025; Burke et al., 2015; Castelnuovo et al., 2016a; Tenti et al., 2025; Manna et al., 2025), often impacting family and social relationships (Suso-Ribera…”
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Metadata
- Authors
- Burke, A. L. J., Mathias, J. L., & Denson, L. A.
- Affiliations
- Royal Adelaide Hospital (AU)
- The University of Adelaide (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Burke, Anne L. J.
- Venue
- British Journal of Clinical Psychology
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2015-03-13
- Volume
- 54
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 345-360
- ISSN
- 0144-6657 (ISSN-L)
- 2044-8260
- OpenAlex
- W2082947525
- Cited by
- 239
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 28 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 27 · 2022: 21 · 2021: 20 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 25 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 19 · 2016: 13 · 2015: 4
- FWCI
- 2.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Journal of Clinical Psychology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Adelaide Research & Scholarship (AR&S) (University of Adelaide) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- American Psychological Association
- Cilag
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Physical Therapy, Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine › Pain Management and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pediatric Pain Management Techniques
- Keywords
- chronic pain, psychological functioning, depression, anxiety, somatization, anger, hostility, self-efficacy, self-esteem, emotional functioning, pain-related anxiety, fear of pain, psychological comorbidity
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Anger, Anxiety, Depression, Fear, Female, Hostility, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Quality of Life, Self Concept, Somatoform Disorders, Stress, Psychological, Databases, Factual, Self Efficacy, Chronic Pain
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