Perception of fault in patients with chronic pain

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Abstract
M “Who do you think is at fault for your pain?”. Patients were then grouped according to the responses ‘employer’, ‘other’, or ‘no one’. The resulting 3 groups of patients did riot differ in current pain intensity or activity limitation, but the fault conditions, relative to the no-fault patients, reported greater concurrent mood distress and behavioral disturbance, as well as poorer response to past treatments, and lessor expectations of future benefits. The negative effects were more pronounced in the Employer-Fault group, than for the Other-Fault group (primarily ‘doctors’ and ‘other drivers’). On balance, the present data suggest: that attribution of blame may be an under-recognized cognitive correlate of pain behavior, mood disturbance, and poor response to treatment. *Corresponding author: Douglas E. DeGood, Anesthesiology Pain Management Center, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Box 293, Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. Tel.: 924-5581 E-mail: dedeirginia@edu.edu (Received 6 September 1994; revised version received 26 February 1995; accepted 18 April 1995.) © Lippincott-Raven Publishers....