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Resilience: A New Paradigm for Adaptation to Chronic Pain

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Abstract

Chronic pain is an affliction that affects a large proportion of the general population and is often accompanied by a myriad of negative emotional, cognitive, and physical effects. However, current pain adaptation paradigms do not account for the many chronic pain patients who demonstrate little or no noticeable impairment due to the effects of chronic pain. This paper offers resilience as an integrative perspective that can illuminate the traits and mechanisms underlying the sustainability of a good life and recovery from distress for individuals with chronic pain.

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Acknowledgments

The two authors contributed equally to this work. They wish to thank Billie Sandberg and members of the Resilience Solutions Group (RSG). The members of the RSG, in addition to the authors of this article, are, in alphabetical order: Leona Aiken, Felipe Castro, Mary Davis, John Hall, Roger Hughes, Martha Kent, Rick Knopf, Kathy Lemery, Linda Luecken, Kate Murray, Morris Okun, and John Reich. This work is supported in part by a grant from the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG 026006), Alex Zautra (PI), John Hall (Co-PI). In addition, the authors are grateful to St. Luke’s Charitable Trust and the Arizona State University Office of the Vice President for Research for invaluable support of the RSG.

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No potential conflicts of interest relevant to this article were reported.

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  1. Psychology Department, Arizona State University, 950 South McAllister, Tempe, AZ, 85287-1104, USA

    John A. Sturgeon & Alex J. Zautra

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  1. John A. Sturgeon
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  2. Alex J. Zautra
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Correspondence to Alex J. Zautra.

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Sturgeon, J.A., Zautra, A.J. Resilience: A New Paradigm for Adaptation to Chronic Pain. Curr Pain Headache Rep 14, 105–112 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-010-0095-9

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