Psychosocial mechanisms of chronic pain

Pain that lasts a long time (is chronic) takes apart lives, relationships and families. Although biological signals can help understand why pain happens, they do not fully account for the experiences people have, or why pain develops the way it does. Psychological and social factors, such as thoughts and feelings, personal relationships, and lifestyle, can also affect chronic pain. However, we do not yet know which of these psychological and social mechanisms are most important, or how they combine with biological signals to affect chronic pain.

Our aim is to determine the psychosocial mechanisms underpinning chronic pain. Our objective is to create a clearer account of how, and in what way, psychosocial factors (interacting with biology) affect pain: what makes chronic pain start, keep going, get better or get worse. In doing so, we will also identify ways to prevent chronic pain from happening, and reduce the negative effects that pain can have on people’s lives.