Is social problem-solving ability a predictor of spinal cord injury pain?

Current research has demonstrated that spinal cord injury (SCI) pain has a great impact on and is affected by psychosocial functioning and quality of life (QOL). Therefore, there is a need to identify and increase understanding of SCI pain-specific variables. While some psychological predictors of pain such as pain catastrophizing, negative cognitions in response to pain, and anger are fairly well established, the role of problemsolving ability as a predicting variable has been previously unexplored. Thus, this study aimed to compare the predictive abilities of social problem-solving ability to the other established predictors as well as exploring the relationships among problem-solving ability, pain, and QOL. Sixty-seven veterans with SCI-related pain completed self-report questionnaires. Results indicate that social problem-solving ability, as well as some if its specific styles, predict pain over and above the previously determined variables. Additionally, while problem-solving ability was also found to significantly predict quality of life, regression analyses of pain on QOL, unexpectedly, did not yield significant results. Implications and future directions are discussed.Ph.D., Clinical Psychology -- Drexel University, 200