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The Link Between Trauma and Chronic Pain

Exploring the Role of Pain Flashbacks in Chronic Pain Following Interpersonal Trauma


Findings demonstrate the high comorbidity of complex/posttraumatic stress disorder (C/PTSD) and chronic pain following exposure to trauma. In exposure to child abuse (CA) in particular, findings imply that CA survivors are at greater risk of developing chronic pain. However, the underlying mechanisms of these processes yet to be uncovered. This study proposes and investigates a new mechanism pertaining to the role of intrusive pain flashbacks for explaining the association between CA, C/PTSD, and chronic pain following interpersonal trauma. A community sample of 430 women (Sample A), and a sample of 164 women who were exposed to CA (Sample B) completed questionnaires assessing pain flashbacks, CA, C/PTSD symptoms, the experience of pain during the trauma, and chronic pain. The findings showed that 8.9% of Sample A (N = 36), and 23.1% of Sample B (N = 37) reported experiencing pain flashbacks. In both samples, participants who experienced pain flashbacks reported more severe CA (p ≤0.052) and C/PTSD p<0.001), compared to participants who experienced flashbacks without pain and those who did not experience pain flashbacks. Participants who experienced pain flashbacks reported more pain during CA (p≤0.001), Finally, in Sample B, pain flashbacks were correlated with a higher risk of suffering from chronic pain (p=0.002). The findings demonstrate that pain flashbacks are associated with more rampant CA and are linked to greater posttraumatic psychopathology. The findings call for further investigations of the role of intrusive symptoms seen in pain flashbacks within the link between trauma, C/PTSD and chronic pain.


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