RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND PAIN .docx

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND PAIN
5
Relationship Between Depression and Pain Among College
Students in Us
Kean University
Research and Technology
05/08/20
Expected Results
Since correlation and regression analysis will be used to test the
research hypothesis, it is expected that the results of the
research will show there is a positive relationship between
depression and pain among college students in the United
States. From the literature reviewed, it was clear that chronic
pain is a predisposing factor for depression. The results will
show that a higher percentage of people who are depressed also
experience pain. The results can be summarized using figure 1
below.
Figure 1: relationship between pain and depression.
The results will show that people who are in pain and depressed
often turn to drugs to manage pain. Drug abuse among the
depressed people is expected to high as the ability to manage
stress is annihilated by pain. It is also expected that the
relationship between depression and pain will be pronounced
among women participants than among the male counterparts.

The coefficient of correlation between pain and depression will
be higher in women than in men. People experiencing chronic
pain have an escalated risk of experiencing mood disorders such
as depression. Another significant proportion with persistent
pain suffers from clinical depression. Conversely, depression
should also have the ability to increase severity of chronic pain
There are other factors such that mediate the relationship
between chronic pain and depression. These include religious
practices, values and beliefs. Similarly, meditation and prayer
can help reduce the strength of the relationship between the two
variables. This is in line with the published literature that
highlights that positive psychological factors that can be used in
helping people adjust to pain and optimism. Hope has been
identified as one of the psychological factors that can be used in
reducing pain and depression as it increases the likelihood of a
person accepting the pain and suffering and hence coping
positively.
Discussion:Potential Significance of the Results
Pain and depression are closely intertwined. As such, there is a
positive relationship between chronic pain and depression. Just
as depression can cause pain, pain can also cause depression. If
not effectively managed, pain and depression can create a
vicious cycle where chronic pain worsens the manifesting
symptoms of depression. The depression that results also
worsens the experiential pain.
Women are more vulnerable to depression because they are too
emotional. Women have a lower tolerance to pain and hence
become easily depressed (Amirifard et al., 2017). This explains
why the coefficient of correlation between pain and depression
is higher for women and men. It therefore follows that teaching
women pain management skills can empower women to avoid
getting depressed. The findings of this research can be used by
psychologists to help clients manage stress better. Research has
shown that one variable is a causal factor for the other.

References
Amirifard, N., Payandeh, M., Aeinfar, M., Sadeghi, M.,
Sadeghi, E., & Ghafarpor, S. (2017). A survey on the
relationship between emotional intelligence and level of
depression and anxiety among women with breast cancer.
International journal of hematology-oncology and stem cell
research, 11(1), 54.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5338283/
Relationship between Pain and Depression
Pain DepressedPain and depressed 20 23 57
Unit III Prompt Lecture:
https://cccconfer.zoom.us/rec/share/38F_d-
HJykxJULfC6VzPHZA_Mrj3aaa8gChNqfQPynrrKy3AP7HD4w
F6sPd8jaE
Tjerrild Unit III Essay Prompt English 1A
Unit III: Researched Position Paper
Due: Thursday, May 21st
Purpose and Audience:
This project is a thoroughly researched, thesis-driven,
argumentative essay that demonstrates competence in both
research and composition. You should assume that your
audience is a diverse group of people who may be neutral or
slightly skeptical of your position.
Content:

This essay must be a thesis-driven argument that puts forward
and supports an answer to your research question. The essay
should have an identifiable introduction, body, and conclusion.
Include an interesting and informative title.
· The Introduction should grab the reader’s attention and
provide necessary background information on the topic, provide
a focus for the paper, and state a clear and precise thesis. The
introduction may be several paragraphs long.
· The Body of the essay should offer a clear argument driven by
textual proof and your own argumentation as well as clear
engagement with the critical sources. Your essay should employ
sound reasoning as it defends the thesis through logical
argumentation and presentation of sound evidence. It should
contain no material that is not directly relevant to the thesis.
Explanations should be detailed and coherent and should avoid
vague or generalized assertions. Examples, illustrations, and
supporting detail should be used frequently and appropriately to
demonstrate the validity of the thesis. The essay should also
present criticisms of the thesis (i.e., counterarguments) fairly,
and it should address such criticisms rationally and
appropriately. You may integrate any relevant portion of your
previous essays and/or parts of your annotated bibliography into
this essay if you revise them for this new rhetorical purpose.
· The Conclusion should bring adequate closure to the paper.
While it should reemphasize the thesis, it should also avoid
excessive repetition of previous points. It should also address
the overarching implications of the topic on the reading
audience. Why should they care about this issue?
Sources:
This essay must use and cite a minimum of eight sources. It
must use at least three scholarly sources (books, peer-reviewed

journal articles, etc.). In addition, the essay may cite sources
from other credible media such as newspaper articles, popular
periodicals, government documents, published interviews and
speeches, studies, surveys, etc. Do not rely on only one or two
sources for the majority of your information. All quotations
must be quoted exactly and attributed to the proper source.
Quotations should be smoothly integrated into the paper and
should also be explained adequately.
Documentation
MLA citation must be used correctly and consistently
throughout the essay and the works cited page. In-text citations
should be used whenever you are using a quotation, a
paraphrase, or even a summary of an idea from a source. You
can find the guidelines for the MLA 8 format in the Unit I
Citations PowerPoint or another online resource like the Purdue
Owl. The Works Cited page must be arranged alphabetically by
the authors’ last names and must give full, accurate
bibliographic information for each source. The works cited
page should list only those works that are actually cited in the
text, and every citation in the text must clearly refer to a
citation on the works cited page. Lastly, remember to evenly
double-space your works cited page and indent every line after
the first by ½”.
Technicalities
· Length: This essay must be at least 2000 words, but should not
exceed 2500 words. In order to pass, the essay must meet the
minimum word count. It should be typed and double-spaced in
12-pt. Times New Roman font with 1” margins. Be sure to
include your last name and page number in the upper right hand
corner of every page.
· Heading (not header): single-spaced in the top left corner ON
THE FIRST PAGE ONLY. Please include your name, the
course, your instructor’s name, and the date.
· Title: centered and un-bolded on the first page. Make it

interesting and informative.
· Please use proper MLA formatting for all source essay
quotations and please include a Works Cited page at the end.
Turning in your essay:
· Your Researched Position Paper is due Thursday, May 21st by
11:59 PM.
· Your Researched Position Paper should be submitted via
Canvas as a Word Document or PDF. Other file types will NOT
be accepted.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND PAIN
AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS 1
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND
PAINAMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS 2
Relationship between Depression and Pain among College
Students in US
Kean University
Research and Technology
04/26/20
Problem Statement
A higher percentage of students with depression are as well
affected by pain. It is true that depression affects a small
percentage of students with chronic pain while affecting a
higher percentage of students with depression. The objective of
the study will therefore be investigating the relationship

between depression and pain among the college students is US.
The study population for the research problem will be anyone
within the ages of 15-30 years. Since it is impossible to analyze
that study population in the entire country, the study population
will be refined by using a sample of the population of all the
people in that age group in Kean University. What needs to be
understood in the research problem is how the general
population has been affected by chronic pain and how it
increases the chances of developing depression (Vadivelu et al.,
2017). That will help in understanding how the complexity
between pain and physical functioning can be solved.
The research problem is specific hence appropriate to be
studied. The research problem helps in understanding the
psychological functioning of the people hence being relevant to
the major. It as well helps in understanding the behaviors of the
people and the factors that impact the changes in the behavior
(Phan et al., 2017). What is more motivating in undertaking the
research problem is to understand how the moods of the people
have been affected by problems that come as a result of pain.
Understanding the relationship between depression and pain is
an issue that affects the majority of the general population
hence it is a topic that everyone needs to have some interest in
researching on. Self-esteem is part of the key issues that need to
be studied in the research problem. Nevertheless, is there direct
relationship between depression and pain?
Literature Review
There exists a significant relationship between pain and
depression among the college students in US. Chronic pain is
considered to be having a greater risk of depression, and studies
have shown that a higher percentage of people with depression
are as well affected by pain. It is true that depression affects a
small percentage of people with chronic pain while affecting a
higher percentage of people experiencing depression (Stanculete
et al., 2017). The majority of people that meet the entire criteria
of the major depression still meet the criteria for the chronic
painful physical condition (CPPC). It is as well true that the

people that have reported an incidence of CPPC still have
reported different symptoms of fatigue, unlike the people that
do nor experience any form of pain.
Psychologists describe depression as a mental disorder that is
always associated with both somatic and emotional symptoms.
There is a higher probability of the people experiencing both
the physical and somatic symptoms to be as well be
experiencing a major depressive disorder. Nevertheless,
depression cannot be effectively assessed in most of the people
that have already shown any physical symptoms (Brown et al.,
2016). That develops, the more likely that such people will be
more resistance to treatment.
There are common comorbidities in the relationship between
pain and depression. Such comorbidities include a higher risk of
stress in people being affected by both depression and pain. The
relationship between pain and depression can as well be
assessed through the distortion of the sensitivity to pain.
Although the majority of the studies have already justified a
positive relationship between negative emotions and pain, it is
as well true that negative emotions can help in reducing pain
(Shim et al., 2017). The relationship between pain and emotions
can, therefore, be referred to as multidimensional. There is as
well a bidirectional relationship between pain and depression.
Neurobiological Basis of the Relationship between Depression
and Pain
Different findings have suggested that the mesolimbic system in
human beings responds to both the pleasure and pain the people
are experiencing.It is true that there is a direct relationship
between the different body organs of a human being that are
associated with the emotions and the sensory body organs that
have the responsibility of detecting both depression and pain
(Stubbs et al., 2018). Patients experiencing a form of depression
have a higher likelihood of having more emotional reactions
compared to the patients not experiencing any form of
depression. The relationship between pain and depression have
different comparable neurobiological mechanisms.

Neuropathic Pain
The neuropathic pain is the kind of pain that is caused to a
human being as a result of the injury that occurs to the nervous
system. The neuropathic pain is as well considered as a form of
chronic stress that shares different features with the depression
that is by stress. One of the key features shared is the
neuropathologic mechanism. That means that both the
neuropathic pain and the stress-induced depression may share
the forms of treatment. That means that the stress-induced
disorders can be regulated by ameliorating the descending
monoamine.
The relationship between pain and depression have proven to be
affecting neuropathic pain in different ways.One of the effects
is on the psychological components that have been under study
for a long period. Different suggestion argues that there are
different psychological components that affect different
perceptions that people have towards pain through impacting
their variations of how chronic pain progresses. For example,
anxiety is believed to be affecting the pain being experienced
by an individual negatively (Amirifard et al., 2017).
Additionally, optimism, which is a form of a positive
psychological outlook in human beings, has proven to be having
a positive effect on the ability of the people coping with both
depression and pain.
Dispositional optimism is the expectation of the people that
they will receive a positive outcome in different situations in
their life. The dispositional optimism can be used as a positive
predictor of health since it helps in reducing the likelihood of
people being depressed. The dispositional optimism has as well
been used as a predictor of the low emotional stress because of
the reduced pain by human beings (Boone & Kim, 2019). The
relationship between pain and depression can be used in
showing how multitargeted therapy can be used in managing
neuropathic pain. This process proves to be more effective
compared to the other therapies that have proven to be targeting
a single pathway.

The Opioid Use as a Factor Affecting the Relationship between
Depression and Pain
Using opioids has greatly increased as people try to manage
depression and pain. The majority of the Americans have
already adopted to using opioid analgesics nonmedically.
Although different studies have shown that the opioids can be
used on the long-term management of depression and pain, it as
well true that they can as well help in the short-term
management of depression and pain too (Phan et al., 2017).
Once the benefits of using the opioids on the patients are clear,
then they need to be used regularly to prevent their negative
effects. Such negative effects of applying the opioids on the
patients include addiction.
The majority of the patients suggest that in case the opioids
prove to be ineffective in their life, then there is a need for the
dosing to be increased. Failure to understand that majority of
the patients tend to increase their dosage instead of stopping to
use the medication may be a great challenge, especially when
trying to help the patient that is already suffering from
depression and pain (Hübscher et al., 2016). Since the majority
of the patients suffering from depression and pain are the ones
considered to be affected by the efficacy trials of opioids,
assessment on the use of opioids on such patients remains to be
an issue in the relationship between pain and depression that is
yet to be explored.
The relationship between using opioids and depression tends to
be multifactorial. Therefore, there are different modes that have
been used in explaining their relationship. Such modes base
their argument on that the patients experiencing a form of
depression tend to be affected by pain, unlike the patients that
do not have depression (Vadivelu et al., 2017). That means such
patients will need to have a higher dosage of opioids hence
increasing the possibility of the opioids that are prescribed on
them. As the severity of pain among the paints experiencing
depression increased, their need for using opioids still
increased.

Psychological Factors Affecting the Relationship between Pain
and Depression
Different studies have suggested the positive psychological
factors that can be used in helping people adjust to pain and
optimism. Hope has been identified as one of the psychological
factors that can be used in reducing pain and depression. Hope
is associated with reducing any form of distress that may be
caused by pain. Pain acceptance is another key psychological
factor that can be used in solving the relationship between pain
and depression (Lee & Han, 2018). Pain acceptance has been
defined as the process of participating in different activities that
are meaningful, although they may result in pain and
depression. People with higher pain acceptance have a tendency
to reduce depression.
Gender as a Factor Affecting the Relationship between Pain and
Depression
Studies have started to come up with different findings that can
be used in supporting gender differences as a phenomenon that
can be used in describing the relationship between pain and
depression. Such gender differences have been used in
describing the vulnerabilities to the diseases that may cause
pain. The women demonstrate a lower tolerance to pain because
of their possibility of being depressed easily (Amirifard et al.,
2017). Women still report a negative response to any form of
depression and pain. Gender is a key factor that can be used in
understanding the relationship between pain and depression, but
the psychological and social factors have as well grown.
The gender roles have played a great role in the relationship
between pain and depression, with the females reporting a
higher pain intensity. The expression of the relationship
between pain and depression seems to be more evident in the
female compare to the male counterparts (Amirifard et al.,
2017). Although the male can prove to be more adaptable to
both depression and pain, women prove to be more adaptable to
depression.
Research Methodology

Introduction
Research methodology refers to a path in which the research
shall be conducted by the researcher. Hence it shows how the
results will be obtained which are in line with the set objectives
of the research. This chapter will cover research design, the
study area, target population, data collection, data analysis and
presentation, and finally ethical consideration.
Research Design
This study the researcher will use descriptive research design to
establish the relation between depression and pain among
college students in the U.S. In descriptive research design the
characteristics of the subjects are described as they appear with
no attempts to change their behaviors (Edmonds, & Kennedy,
2016). This type of research design will be used because can
collect large amounts of rich data that is detailed analyzed for
recommendations.
The Study Area
The importance of the study area is establishing the real area
where data in the research will be collected. Thus, this a
territory specified by the researcher for data collection
(Adams,& Lawrence, 2018). The researcher will collect data
from the sampled college institutions in the U.S. The rationale
behind selecting a college will be based on whether the college
is a registered institution and offers various programmes. Also,
a college will be selected based on the availability of data.
Target Population
Population is a complete set of subjects or individuals who have
common characteristics. Thus, target population refers to a
group of individuals in which the sample will be taken for
measurement (Asiamah, Mensah, &Oteng-Abayie, 2017). In this
research the target population will be students from the colleges
in the U.S. This will include both the undergraduate and
postgraduate students in these colleges.
Data Collection
Data collection is a very important stage in every research
where the researcher needs to defines all the processes used in

collecting this data. To avoid errors data management methods
should be observed to gather quality data that can best achieve
the objectives of the research. Thus, data collection refers to the
process of gathering the required information to prove some
facts (Lee, 2019). The researcher intends to obtain a permit
from relevant bodies maybe pertinent to this research.The
researcher will obtain a letter of introduction from the college,
in the department which shall be used in obtaining data from the
other colleges under the study.
College student data is always accessible to authorized college
staff and perhaps their students when permitted too. Therefore,
from unauthorized people data can only be accessed through
proper channel of communication, thus, the use of the
introductory letter. However, this study shall use secondary
data, which shall include data on students reports which is
readily available from the colleges. The rationale for using
secondary data is that it gives a cost-effective in the research
budget. This data will be combined and stored well for research
analysis.
Data Analysis and Presentation
In this stage, the researcher carries out the analysis of the
collected data. Thus, data analysis is a process of examining the
collected data, scrutinizing it properly to make inference and
deductions. On the other hand, presentation refers to the process
of organizing data into tables, charts or graphs to help drive out
the statistical and logical conclusions. In this study after
collecting data, it will be organized and proper coding is done
as this the first part of the analysis. Data cleaning will also be
done to eliminate any errors that may be present in the data to
quality results.
The study uses quantitative data analysis method as the data
collected in the secondary research is aquantitative type of data.
Analysis tool that shall be used in this study will R, and
Statistical Package for Social Statistics (SPSS version 21). This
data will be analyzed using both descriptive and inferential
statistics.For descriptive statistics shall include meaning,

variance, standard deviations, maximum and minimum values,
while inferential statistics will include correlation and
regression analysis for testing the hypothesis.
Correlation analysis will help to quantify the extent to which
depression and pain are related. It provides the linear
relationship between these two variables and also through the
evaluation of the correlation coefficient value it will tell how
much depression as a variable change when pain does. On the
other hand, regression analysis helps in predicting the
relationship between depression and pain (Walliman,
2017).Finally, tables and graph will be used in presenting the
findings thus, giving summaries.
Ethical Consideration
Values and principles that address some questions on what is
good or bad for human affairs must be considered. Major ethical
issues in conducting research include confidentiality,
anonymity, informed consent and voluntary participation
(Pietilä et al., 2020). In this study, the researcher will ensure
the necessary limits of confidentiality of the students’ data are
achieved. Also, due steps will be taken to ensure that before the
collection of data from any college, permission is awarded.
References
Adams, K. A., & Lawrence, E. K. (2018). Research methods,
statistics, and applications. Sage Publications.
Amirifard, N., Payandeh, M., Aeinfar, M., Sadeghi, M.,
Sadeghi, E., & Ghafarpor, S. (2017). A survey on the
relationship between emotional intelligence and level of
depression and anxiety among women with breast cancer.
International journal of hematology-oncology and stem cell
research, 11(1), 54.
Asiamah, N., Mensah, H. K., &Oteng-Abayie, E. F. (2017).
General, target, and accessible population: Demystifying the

concepts for effective sampling. The Qualitative Report, 22(6),
1607.
Boone, D., & Kim, S. Y. (2019). Family Strain, Depression, and
Somatic Amplification in Adults with Chronic Pain.
International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 26(4), 427-436.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12529-019-09799-y
Brown, A., Rance, J., & Bennett, P. (2016). Understanding the
relationship between breastfeeding and postnatal depression: the
role of pain and physical difficulties. Journal of advanced
nursing, 72(2), 273-282.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jan.12832
Edmonds, W. A., & Kennedy, T. D. (2016). An applied guide to
research designs: Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods.
Sage Publications.
Hübscher, M., Hartvigsen, J., Fernandez, M., Christensen, K., &
Ferreira, P. (2016). Does physical activity moderate the
relationship between depression symptomatology and low back
pain? Cohort and co-twin control analyses nested in the
longitudinal study of aging Danish twins (LSADT). European
Spine Journal, 25(4), 1226-1233.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00586-015-4138-0
Lee, A. J. (2019). U-statistics: Theory and Practice. Routledge.
Lee, I. H., & Han, S. K. (2018). Mediating Effect of Depression
in the Relationship Between Health-Related Quality of Life and
Pain of the Elderly with Physical Dysfunction. Journal of
International Academy of Physical Therapy Research (JIAPTR),
9(2), 1455-1460.
http://www.papersearch.net/thesis/article.asp?key=3633375
Phan, K., Moran, D., Kostowski, T., Xu, R., Goodwin, R.,
Elder, B., ... & Bydon, A. (2017). Relationship between
depression and clinical outcome following anterior cervical
discectomy and fusion. Journal of Spine Surgery, 3(2), 133.
Phan, K., Moran, D., Kostowski, T., Xu, R., Goodwin, R.,
Elder, B., ... & Bydon, A. (2017). Relationship between
depression and clinical outcome following anterior cervical

discectomy and fusion. Journal of Spine Surgery, 3(2), 133.
Pietilä, A. M., Nurmi, S. M., Halkoaho, A., &Kyngäs, H.
(2020). Qualitative Research: Ethical Considerations. In The
Application of Content Analysis in Nursing Science
Research (pp. 49-69). Springer, Cham.
Shim, E. J., Song, Y. W., Park, S. H., Lee, K. M., Go, D. J., &
Hahm, B. J. (2017). Examining the relationship between pain
catastrophizing and suicide risk in patients with rheumatic
disease: the mediating role of depression, perceived social
support, and perceived burdensomeness. International journal of
behavioral medicine, 24(4), 501-512.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12529-017-9648-1
Stanculete, M. F., Căpățînă, O., Pojoga, C., & Surdea-Blaga, T.
(2019). Anger Mediates the Relationship between Pain and
Depression in Irritable Bowel Syndrome. Journal of
Gastrointestinal & Liver Diseases, 28(4).
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&profile=eho
st&scope=site&authtype
Stubbs, B., Vancampfort, D., Firth, J., Schuch, F. B., Hallgren,
M., Smith, L., ... & Carvalho, A. F. (2018). Relationship
between sedentary behavior and depression: A mediation
analysis of influential factors across the lifespan among 42,469
people in low-and middle-income countries. Journal of affective
disorders, 229, 231-238.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165032717
321699
Vadivelu, N., Kai, A. M., Kodumudi, G., Babayan, K., Fontes,
M., & Burg, M. M. (2017). . Ochsner Journal, 17(2), 173-180.
http://www.ochsnerjournal.org/content/17/2/173.abstract
Walliman, N. (2017). Research methods: The basics. Routledge.

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