Access Type
Open Access Thesis
Date of Award
January 2012
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A.
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Mark A. Lumley
Abstract
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) causes pain, disability, and inflammation. Written emotional disclosure (WED) and pain coping skills training (CST) improves adjustment, but effect sizes are small to moderate; research needs to identify patients most likely to benefit from WED and CST. A moderator analyses was conducted to determine if alexithymia, social constraints, or self-efficacy predicted health outcomes from interventions at 1-, 4-, and 12-month follow-up. Health assessed at baseline and at each follow-up. Patients were randomized to WED or equivalent control (Health Behavior Writing), and to CST or equivalent control (Arthritis Education). Findings from this study suggest that alexithymia and social constraints inconsistently predict which patients will benefit from the psychological interventions, and that self-efficacy is has consistent but limited moderating effects on the interventions. In general, it appears that these factors may not be important predictors of which patients will benefit from the psychological interventions in the current study.
Recommended Citation
Carty, Jennifer, "Alexithymia, social constraints, and self-efficacy as moderators of written emotional disclosure and coping skills training: for which patients with rheumatoid arthritis do these interventions improve pain and physical functioning?" (2012). Wayne State University Theses. 188.
https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_theses/188