Catastrophizing moderates the relationship between pain severity and depressive symptomatology among women with endometriosis

Cristina Zarbo, Agostino Brugnera, Luigi Frigerio, Rita Secomandi, Adriano Bellia, Enrico Betto, Ilario Candeloro, Chiara Malandrino, Angelo Compare
Psychology, health & medicine · 2023 · vol. 29(5) , pp. 917–929 · doi:10.1080/13548506.2023.2235737 · PMID:37438970 · W4384120774
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This study found that among women with endometriosis, higher pain severity was associated with more depressive symptoms, and this relationship was stronger in those with higher levels of catastrophizing.

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Abstract

The link between pain severity, depressive symptomatology and catastrophizing among women with endometriosis is still under-investigated. The aim of this study was to (i) evaluate differences in depressive symptomatology between women with and without endometriosis; (ii) investigate if pain severity is associated with depressive symptoms; and (iii) test if catastrophizing moderates the link between these two variables. A total of 172 women with a diagnosis of endometriosis and 62 healthy controls volunteered for this cross-sectional study. Depressive symptomatology, pain severity, and catastrophizing were assessed.Compared to healthy controls, women with endometriosis were more likely to score above the cutoff for depressive symptomatology, with 60.5% of the latter being classified as having a subthreshold depression or minor depression and 15.7% as having moderate or severe major depression. Pain severity was significantly associated with depressive symptoms even after controlling for several covariates. Finally, the moderation model suggested that among patients with endometriosis, the relationship between pain severity and depressive symptomatology depended on the level of catastrophizing, with this association being stronger for high levels of the moderator.Mental health practitioners working with women with endometriosis may consider those who report high levels of pain severity and of catastrophizing at high risk of depression and are advised to promote adaptive coping strategies among patients to foster a better adaptation to this chronic disease.

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Condition tags

mesh:D004715mesh:D017699endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Catastrophization Depression Depression Depression Depression Depression Depression

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 (47)

Cited by (11)

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