Difficulty in emotional regulation and pain in the elderly

Pain is a complex experience that is not only determined by the intensity of stimulation of pain receptors, but is a multi-dimensional phenomenon that affects psychological factors, such as emotional regulation, except for biological factors. In this regard, the purpose of this study was to investigate the predicting role of the difficulties in emotional regulation on the duration of persistence and intensity of perceived pain in the elderly and the structural relationships between emotional regulation and the general severity of pain perception in these individuals. The present research is a correlation study. The sample consisted of 251 elderly who had pain in at least one area of their body. This sample was selected using a multi-stage purposeful sampling method from among the elderly in the Centers of daily aging in Shiraz. To collect data, the Persian version of the Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale (DERS), the McGill Pain Questionnaire and Pain Information Questionnaire were used. Data were analyzed by correlation, regression, and structural equation modeling method using SPSS 18 and LISREL 8.80 software. The results of regression showed that among components of difficulty in emotional regulation, limited access to strategies, difficulty in achieving goals and lack of emotional awareness, predict the overall severity of pain perception, and limited access to strategies can predict pain duration in elderly. Also, structural equation modeling results showed that the difficulties in emotional regulation is related to the general severity of pain perception in the elderly and can affect it (R2=0.11). In general, according to the findings of this study, it can be said that the components of difficulty in emotional regulation can predict elderly pain perception and these two construction are structurally related. These results can have various theoretical and practical implications in identifying the factors associated with aging pain perception and pain control in these individuals.