Study to Understand Pain Experiences in Relationships (SUPER)

Wayne State University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Chronic Pain

Treatments: Behavioral: Emotional Validation Training for Romantic Partners; Behavioral: Chronic Pain Education Training for Romantic Partners

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02859545

ACorley

Details and patient eligibility

About

Chronic pain is a highly prevalent and costly health care problem. Yet, little is known about the optimal ways for health care providers and family members to respond to the distress expressed by people with chronic pain. The aim of the current study is to compare two models of responsiveness to identify responses that result in better functioning and adjustment. An experimental design will be used to test the extent to which emotional validation (e.g., an empathic response to distress) increases or decreases pain behaviors during physical activity. Romantic partners of individuals with chronic pain will be randomly assigned to receive validation or control training. Following training, people with chronic pain and their partners will engage in a discussion about pain and complete household tasks to examine the effects of partner training on communication, pain intensity, and pain behavior. Additionally, each individual in the couple will complete self-report measures after the discussion, after the household tasks, and one-month following the laboratory visit.

Enrollment: 80 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Romantic couples who are married or living with each other for 6 months or longer or have been in a romantic relationship 2+ years.
• One individual in the couple must have chronic muscoskeletal pain, lasting 3 months or longer. Participants may have multiple pain sites.
• The individual with chronic pain must report that their pain occurs nearly daily.
• The individual with chronic pain must have an average pain intensity of 3 or greater on an 11-point scale (from 0: no pain to 10: worst pain imaginable)
• The individual with chronic pain must have an average pain interference of 3 or greater on an 11-point scale (from 0: does not interfere to 10: completely interferes)

Exclusion criteria

• One or both individuals in the couple are unable to speak, read, or write in English.
• Both individuals in the couple have chronic pain. Couples may consist of one individual with chronic pain and one individual with "minimal pain", which we define as having some aspects of chronic pain but not all (e.g., has had nearly daily pain for 4 months but rates their pain below 3 in regards to interference and intensity)
• One or both individuals in the couple have widespread pain (e.g., fibromyalgia)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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80 participants in 2 patient groups, including a placebo group

Validation Training

Experimental group

Description:

In this arm, the romantic partner of the individual with chronic pain receives training on how to validate which is provided by the research assistant.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Emotional Validation Training for Romantic Partners

Education Training

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

In this arm, the romantic partner of the individual with chronic pain receives training on how to ask questions about treatments, which is provided by the research assistant.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Chronic Pain Education Training for Romantic Partners