Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Empathic And Nonempathic Interaction In Chronic Pain Couples, Annmarie Cano, Justin A. Barterian, Jaclyn B. Heller

Psychology Faculty Research Publications

Empathy and empathic response are receiving greater attention in pain research as investigators acknowledge that other forms of interaction may impact the pain process. The purpose of this study was to examine validation and invalidation as forms of empathic and nonempathic responses in chronic pain couples. Participants were 92 couples in which at least one spouse reported chronic musculoskeletal pain. Each couple participated in two videotaped interactions about the ways in which the pain has impacted their lives together. Trained raters then coded interactions for each partner’s use of validation and invalidation. Couples also completed surveys on spouse responses to …