1. Impact of Psychological Constructs on Well-being in Fibromyalgia Patients
and Healthy Individuals
Anika Hansen, Kate Larson, Kelly Kennedy, Cody Duncan, and Meredith Bruster
IntroductionIntroduction
Research has been increasing over the past few
years to investigate Fibromyalgia Syndrome. There
have been various studies that have considered
possible contributors and effects of the disease.
Treatments have been tested and conclusions have
been found. Research has indicated that there is no
known organic cause to Fibromyalgia, but the
symptoms are very real. But are there specific
psychological affects that are related to one’s
physical and mental well-being? This study
examines positive and negative psychological
constructs and how they may be related to
symptoms found in many Fibromyalgia patients in
comparison to healthy individuals.
ObjectiveObjective
The purpose of our study is to examine how positive
and negative psychological affects may impact pain,
quality of life, and well-being of Fibromyalgia
patients in comparison to healthy individuals. The
hope is that this evidence can assist physicians and
therapists in understanding the underlying
contributors to Fibromyalgia Syndrome.
HypothesesHypotheses
From the suggesting data there has been evidence
that Fibromyalgia patients have more negative
psychological constructs present, which in turn,
implements the hypothesis that patients with
Fibromyalgia Syndrome will have a stronger
correlation between negative affects and overall
well-being, specifically in the constructs of pain and
quality of life when compared to their healthy
counterparts
MethodMethod
Participants
81 Healthy Comparison Group
172 Fibromyalgia patients
Gender: Male and Female
Age: 19-81
Measures
Quality of Life
Quality of Life Scale
Mental Health
SF-12 (Short Form Health Survey)
Physical Health
SF-12
Depression
 HADS (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale)
Anxiety
 HADS
Pain Severity
 Regional Pain Scale
Gratitude
 Gratitude Questionnaire
Mindfulness
 FFA (Freiburger Questionnaire for Mindfulness)
Forgiveness (to self, to others)
 Mauger Forgiveness Scale
Thoughts of Revenge
 ARS (Anger Rumination Scale)
Angry Afterthoughts
 TRIMI (Transgression-Related Interpersonal
Motivation Inventory)
Anger Rumination
 ARS
Stress
 PSQ (Perceived Stress Questionnaire)
Shame
 TOCAS (Test of Self-Conscious Affect)
Guilt
 TOCAS
ResultsResults
Positive psychological affects included gratitude,
forgiveness of self, forgiveness of others, and
mindfulness. Negative psychological affects included
revenge, anger rumination, angry afterthoughts,
stress, shame, and guilt. From our statistical analyses
we can see that in regards to the positive
psychological affects, patients and their counterparts
did not significantly differ in regards to their effects on
pain and depression. There was a significant
difference between negative affects and the impact
they had on mental health and pain, many healthy
individuals had a stronger relationship between
negative psychological affects and their overall well-
being. However these differences are marginal.
ReferencesReferences
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of different levels of depressive symptoms with symptomatology, overall disease severity, and quality of life in women with fibromyalgia. Qual
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Zautra, A. J., Johnson, L. M., & Davis, M. C. (2005). Positive Affect as a Source of Resilience for Women in Chronic Pain. Journal of Consulting and
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ConclusionsConclusions
As we can see from our statistics there is very little significant differences between Fibromyalgia patients and their healthy
counterparts. Patients and healthy individuals differed more in regards to negative psychological affects in relation to pain
and mental health. Healthy individuals had a higher correlation between negative affects and their overall well-being. This
could be because Fibromyalgia patients already have higher levels of negative affect than their healthy counterparts.
They may also have a lower overall well-being from having the syndrome. We had hypothesized that patients would have
significantly higher negative psychological affect and well-being relationships in comparison to healthy individuals,
however, the data disagrees. It seems that healthy individual’s overall well-being was impacted more from the negative
affects. Although our hypothesis was shown to be wrong there can still be a lot that we can learn from this study. Our
statistics can assist physicians in the treatment process for their patients with Fibromyalgia Syndrome. By concluding that
patients are more similar than different to healthy individuals may make it easier for doctors and therapists to treat those
who are affected by Fibromyalgia.