Tyler Chui ’22, Gilharia Delva ’21, Robert Hughes ’21, Aliyah Jones ’22, Angela Tassi ’21, and Kennedy Tran ‘22
Majors: Psychology (Tyler), Health Sciences (Gilharia and Angela), Biology and Health Sciences (Robert and Kennedy), and Psychology and Social Work (Aliyah)
Minors: Business Management (Tyler), Psychology (Gilharia and Robert), Biology and Psychology (Angela), and Chemistry and Psychology (Kennedy)
Affiliations: Honors College (Tyler, Aliyah, and Angela) and Veteran (Robert)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jamie Dunaev, Assistant Teaching Professor of Psychology
Abstract
Chronic pain is the residual, ongoing experience of injury, illness, or disease that can extend beyond a six-month period. It is important to acknowledge that those who live with chronic pain often experience stigma from family members, society, healthcare providers, and those who rarely experience pain themselves. With internalizing chronic pain stigma, individuals can experience negative impacts on their psychological and physical well-being. As characterized through this multidimensional scope, most of the human population will likely experience this type of pain across their lifespan, making this area of interest for both males and females. However, recent studies conducted have shown that women are more likely than men to report cases of pain, (LeResche, 1999), suggesting gender may shape the experience of chronic pain. Our research aims to examine the association between chronic pain and gender/gender roles. Given the limited research on race/ethnicity and level of education and experiences of chronic pain, we will also examine these demographic factors in our presentation.
For this presentation, we will be using data that was collected for a larger study focused on chronic pain, general health and body image. Participants for this study were mainly recruited from social media (Facebook) and support groups for those who suffer from chronic illness. Amazon’s mTurk was also used to recruit participants for this study, and those who participated were compensated with $4, and entered to win an $100 gift card for their participation. Since this study is specifically focused on chronic pain and stigma, the group of participants was then further subdivided, to include only those who suffer from chronic pain. (N= 278). 179 participants were women and 99 were men, their ages ranged from 18-69 years old. (M= 36.5, SD= 11.56) Participants were Caucasian/European American (82%), Black/African American (3%), Hispanic/Latino (4%), and the remaining participants identified as Asian/Pacific Islander, Native American, or “other” ethnicity. All of the participants suffer from chronic pain, however, the diagnoses among the participants varied significantly. Some common diagnoses were Arthritis, Fibromyalgia, bowel disease, and back pain. Results of our analyses will be described in the poster.