Background

Although past studies have found significant positive correlations of both pain severity and overall pain catastrophizing (PC) levels with depression in chronic pain samples, less is known about the extent to which specific PC dimensions (i.e., helplessness, magnification, rumination) explain links between pain severity and depression.

Aim

This study assessed the relative importance of PC dimensions as mediators of relations between chronic pain severity and depression.

Design

A cross sectional study design was employed.

Method

Mainland Chinese adults with chronic pain (n = 983) completed validated questionnaire measures of PC, depression, and chronic pain severity within a cross-sectional research design.

Results

Analyses indicated helplessness mediated the association between pain severity and depression while magnification partially mediated the association of helplessness with depression. Conversely, rumination did not make a significant contribution in the mediation model.

Conclusions

The helplessness dimension of PC, in particular, may help to explain why people with more severe chronic pain are prone to co-occurring depression.