Pain Severity and Depressive Symptoms in Endometriosis Patients: Mediation of Negative Body Awareness and Interoceptive Self-Regulation

Marta Spinoni, Maria Grazia Porpora, Ludovico Muzii, Muzii L, Caterina Grano
The journal of pain · 2024 · vol. 25(11) , pp. 104640 · doi:10.1016/j.jpain.2024.104640 · PMID:39032583 · W4400766029
article OA: green CC0 ⤵ 5 in-corpus citations
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This study investigated the relationships between pain severity, depressive symptoms, negative body awareness, and interoceptive self-regulation in patients with endometriosis.

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Abstract

Endometriosis-related pain may be associated with depressive symptoms. Although a growing body of evidence supports this association, the underlying mechanisms are still largely unclear. Impaired perceptions of bodily external and internal stimuli may be involved in this process. This study aims to assess the mediating role of 2 facets of interoception-the awareness of negative body signals and interoceptive self-regulation-in the association between pain severity and depressive symptoms among women with endometriosis. A total of 301 patients who reported a diagnosis of endometriosis were recruited from an endometriosis and chronic pelvic pain outpatient university clinic and through patient associations and completed self-reported instruments. A parallel mediation analysis was conducted. Almost half of women (48.2%) reported depressive symptoms above the self-rating scale cutoff values. Pain severity significantly predicted depressive symptoms (β = .39, 95% bootstrap confidence interval [CI] [.719, 1.333]). Negative body awareness (β = .121, 95% bootstrap CI [.174, .468]) and interoceptive self-regulation (β = .05, 95% bootstrap CI [.035, .252]) partially mediated this relationship. Our findings indicated that pain may interfere with the perception of the body as a source of calmness and safety, limiting the individual's ability to effectively regulate emotions. Future research should further explore these mechanisms and evaluate the efficacy of interventions focusing on interoceptive sensibility to enhance the psychological well-being of endometriosis patients. PERSPECTIVE: This article investigates for the first time the potential role of 2 facets of interoceptive sensibility in the relationship between pain severity and depressive symptoms in women with endometriosis. These findings may contribute to advancing knowledge about the mechanisms involved in the complex pain-depression cycle.

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Condition tags

endometriosischronic_pelvic_pain

MeSH descriptors

Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness Awareness

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (100)

Cited by (7)

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europepmc
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License: CC0 · commercial use OK