Cognitive and Personality Factors Implicated in Pain Experience in Women With Endometriosis

Cristina Zarbo, Agostino Brugnera, Valentina Dessì, Pietro Barbetta, Ilario Candeloro, Rita Secomandi, Enrico Betto, Chiara Malandrino, Adriano Bellia, Gaetano Trezzi, Massimo Rabboni, Angelo Compare, Luigi Frigerio
The Clinical journal of pain · 2019 · vol. 35(12) , pp. 948–957 · doi:10.1097/ajp.0000000000000757 · PMID:31433322 · W2969683385
article OA: closed CC0 ⤵ 29 in-corpus citations
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⚙ AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-06 ⓘ

This study found that worry traits and maladaptive coping strategies in women with endometriosis contribute to a cycle of pain, fear, and psychological distress by reinforcing negative thoughts and feelings of powerlessness.

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Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The impact of pain on quality of life and mental health of women with endometriosis is well known. However, the role that personality traits and coping strategies might have in influencing pain experience is still poorly understood and was the chief purpose of this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a mixed-method sequential explanatory study, composed of a quantitative survey followed by qualitative interviews. The first quantitative phase included 162 women with endometriosis who completed a battery of validated questionnaires. After statistical analysis, a semistructured qualitative interview has been developed and conducted with 6 of them, in order to help explain findings obtained in the first phase. Thereafter, both analyses were combined in a metamatrix. RESULTS: From the metamatrix, it emerged that acute pain experience, fear of its occurrence, its unpredictability, and control difficulties are the main concerns of women with endometriosis. Worry trait characteristics (ie, the need for control, anticipatory anxiety, intrusive worry thoughts) and maladaptive thoughts such as coping strategies (ie, self-blame, rumination, catastrophizing) were common in this sample and seem to indirectly affect pain experience. Indeed, the unsuccessful struggle in controlling pain reinforces negative thoughts/beliefs and feelings of powerlessness, leading, in turn, to psychological distress and higher pain experience. DISCUSSION: From the study emerged a model of onset and maintenance of acute pain in women with endometriosis. Findings have clinical implications for the medical team and psychologists.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Cognition Endometriosis Pain Personality Adaptation, Psychological Adult Anxiety Anxiety Catastrophization Catastrophization Endometriosis Endometriosis Fear Female Humans Middle Aged Pain Pain Pain Management Pain Measurement

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 (58)

Cited by (29)

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