Associations Between Adult Attachment, Pain Catastrophizing, Psychological Inflexibility and Disability in Adults with Chronic Pain

We investigated whether attachment insecurity (anxiety and avoidance) moderated the association between satisfaction with social support and pain disability. We also tested whether the relationship between insecure attachment and pain disability was serially mediated by pain catastrophising and psychological inflexibility. A large-scale cross-sectional correlational design was employed. Data were collected using an online survey. Correlation, serial mediation and moderated regression analyses were used. Data from 894 people with self-reported chronic pain were analysed. Based on correlations, age, depression, and pain intensity were included as covariates. No direct effect of satisfaction with social support on pain disability was observed in the moderation. Attachment anxiety was positively associated with pain disability (b = 1.20, t = 2.03, p < .05), but attachment avoidance was not (b = -0.08, t = -0.13, p = .90). The association between attachment anxiety and pain disability was partially mediated by pain catastrophising and psychological inflexibility (c = 1.21, t = 4.37, p < .001; a1db2 = 0.33, t = 5.15, p < .001). The relationship between attachment avoidance and pain disability was fully mediated by pain catastrophising and psychological inflexibility (c = 0.15, t = 0.54, p = .59; a1db2 = 0.13, t = 2.24, p < .05). This study provided initial evidence that pain catastrophising and psychological inflexibility mediate the association between insecure attachment and pain disability. Follow-up research using a longitudinal design is recommended.