Pain-related support seeking? Situating the response to pain within the social context using a sample of women experiencing menstrual pain

Abstract The current study explored whether “pain catastrophizing” in a sample of women experiencing menstrual pain can change over time as a function of perceived social support. All participants were cisgender women aged between 18 and 50 years of age, residing in Australia, and who had experienced menstruation within the past year. Participants completed two online surveys approximately 1-year apart, and participants were included if they indicated some degree of menstrual pain at baseline (Time 1, T1) (N = 2006 at T1 and N = 487 at T2). A significant negative association was found between perceived social support (T1) and pain catastrophizing (T2), when reports of pain catastrophizing at T1 were controlled for. This remained significant when the model was adjusted for the potential confounders: age, menstrual pain level, and endometriosis diagnosis (all assessed at T1). These findings demonstrate how “pain catastrophizing” in women with menstrual pain is, at least in part, a function of the broader social environment. This suggests that “pain catastrophizing” might be a well-intentioned and understandable pain-related support seeking strategy that manifests in response to a lack of adequate social support. It might be beneficial for psychological interventions to consider people’s social network to ensure that they are able to get the support that they need.