Work

Psychosocial Predictors of Spinal Cord Injury Pain: The Canadian Spinal Cord Injury Pain Survey

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationships between sociodemographics, injury characteristics, personality traits, and emotions with pain severity and interference using data from the Canadian Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Pain Survey. DESIGN: Cross-sectional community-based survey. SETTING: An online survey. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 200 English-speaking adults (≥18 years old) with noncongenital SCI living in Canada (mean age ± SD, 51±14 years; 51% men) were recruited through the SCI community and research organizations. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain severity and interference were measured using the Brief Pain Inventory-Short Form subscales. Hierarchical blocks of predictor variables included: (1) sociodemographics; (2) injury characteristics; and psychosocial variables comprising (3) personality traits and (4) emotions. RESULTS: For pain severity, age was the only significant predictor in the final model (β=0.04; 95% CI, 0.008, 0.072; P=.015). Psychosocial variables (blocks 3 and 4 combined) contributed additional variance (ΔR²=0.02-0.05) but did not significantly improve model fit (P>.05), indicating that psychosocial factors did not meaningfully predict pain severity. The final model explained 19.7% of the variance in pain severity (adjusted R²=0.09, P=.03), corresponding to a small to medium effect size (Cohen's f²≈.10). For pain interference, age (β=0.05; 95% CI, 0.018, 0.081; P=.002), anger (β=0.05; 95% CI, 0.005, 0.099; P=.029), and depression (β=0.07; 95% CI, 0.010, 0.123; P=.022) were statistically significant predictors. Psychosocial variables explained additional variance (ΔR²≈0.11, P<.05), supporting the hypothesis that psychosocial factors meaningfully contribute to pain interference. The final model explained 38.2% of the variance in pain interference (adjusted R²=0.30, P<.001), reflecting a very large effect size (Cohen's f²≈0.62). CONCLUSIONS: Psychosocial variables, particularly emotions, are associated with pain interference but not severity in people with SCI. These factors appear more important than injury-related characteristics and highlight potentially modifiable targets for intervention and self-management, and support the integration of psychosocial treatment in SCI pain care.

Source: Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2026.04.003

Authors: Robert C. Buren, Kenneth S. Noguchi, Susan Holtzman, Kathleen A. Martin Ginis

Institutions: University of British Columbia, International Collaboration On Repair Discoveries, University of British Columbia, Okanagan Campus

Language: English

Topic: Spinal Cord Injury Research

Subfield: Pathology and Forensic Medicine

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,000