The role of Metacognitive Beliefs and Resilience on Predicting Marital Adjustment in Both Groups of Patients with Chronic and Acute Pain

Due to the high prevalence of chronic pain in society and its comprehensive effects on the lives of patients, metacognitive beliefs and resilience significantly affect the level of adaptation of these people. So, this study was conducted to investigate the role of metacognitive beliefs and resilience on predicting marital adjustment in both groups of patients with chronic and acute pain.

This was a descriptive correlational study. The statistical sample of the study included both groups of patients with chronic pain (n = 60) and healthy individuals (n = 60) who were selected by the convenient sampling method and evaluated using the Wells (1997) Metacognition Questionnaire, the Connor-Davidson (2003) Resilience Scale (CD-RISC), and the Spanier (1976) Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS).

The regression results indicated that both variables of metacognitive beliefs and resilience were included in the model in the group of patients with acute pain. The standard regression coefficient of resilience was higher than that of metacognitive beliefs. Therefore, marital adjustment was more affected by resilience than metacognitive beliefs (metacognitive beliefs (B = -0.356, P = 0.002) and resilience (B = 0.412, P <0.001). In the group of patients with chronic pain, only the variable of resilience could predict marital adjustment (resilience (B = 0.388, P = 0.002).

Metacognitive beliefs and resilience are good predictors of marital adjustment and significantly affect marital adjustment in both groups of patients with chronic and acute pain. If resilience and metacognitive belief both play a role together, the pain will affect the individual less and lead to greater adjustment. So, in addition to resilience, the level of metacognitive beliefs of people with chronic pain should be raised.