Maladaptive Illness Behavior: A Potential Marker for Outcome Success among a Community-Based Chronic Pain Sample

Objectives:The study sought to compare individuals with chronic pain and members of the general community in terms of health, demographic, and psychological characteristics, with a specific focus on illness behavior.Pain participants whose illness behavior responses were elevated were then identified, with a view to determining a predictive model of this subgroup in terms of health, demographic, and psychological characteristics.Methods: Community-based chronic pain support group members (N=79) were matched on sex, age, and education with 79 general community members.All participants completed a questionnaire which included a brief revised Illness Behavior Questionnaire.Results: Pain participants were less likely to be in paid employment, had poorer perceptions of their general health and visited their general practitioner more frequently than community members.A two-cluster solution revealed one subgroup of participants (n=27) to have higher mean illness behavior scores than other participants (n=52).These individuals also had greater Maladaptive Coping, current pain and functional interference, more Somatic Attributions for illness and a poorer health trajectory.Pain participants identified more readily with a state of physical disorder, illness vulnerability, and general life stressors.Discussion: While preliminary insight was provided into the characteristics of pain participants likely to report maladaptive illness behavior, there remains a need to determine its potential relevance to both short and long-term treatment outcomes and the degree to which similar attributes exist in other pain populations.