Maladjustment to Chronic Noncancer Pain and Opioids Misuse: Analyzing the Differences between Men and Women
Description
A previous study investigated the role of anxiety sensitivity and impulsiveness as diathesis variables in a model of dual vulnerability to chronic pain maladjustment and opioid misuse, finding an association between higher scores on these two variables and poorer pain adjustment and opioid misuse. This study had the following aims: (1) to cross-validate the results of the previous study; and (2) to analyse differences between men and women in relation to the proposed hypothetical model. The sample comprised 366 individuals with chronic noncancer pain (CNCP). We performed correlations and SEM analysis. The results support the postulated hypothetical model: a strong association was found between both impulsivity/anxiety sensitivity and pain maladjustment/opioid misuse in individuals with CNCP. Moreover, the proposed model is applicable to both men and women. Only slight differences were found in pain intensity levels between the two samples. Therefore, this multisample comparative study suggests that impulsivity and anxiety sensitivity increase the vulnerability of both men and women with CNCP to the risk of opioids misuse regardless of sex.