SynthesisThe journal of pain2016
Differences in Pain Coping Between Black and White Americans: A Meta-Analysis.
Synthesis in The journal of pain, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
70 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A Systematic Review of Black People Coping With Racism: Approaches, Analysis, and Empowerment.Perspectives on psychological science : a journal of the Association for Psychological Science · 2023Pooled it
- Group Differences Between Countries and Between Languages in Pain-Related Beliefs, Coping, and Catastrophizing in Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2020Pooled it
- Intersectional pain disparities and resilience in veterans with chronic pain.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2026Trial
- Self-Chosen Music as a Contributor to Music-Induced Analgesia Across Diverse Socio-Cultural Backgrounds: A Crossover Randomised Controlled Trial.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2025Trial
- Beyond the pain: A qualitative study exploring the physical therapy experience in patients with chronic low back pain.Physiotherapy theory and practice · 2023Trial
- Taking ACTION to Reduce Pain: a Randomized Clinical Trial of a Walking-Focused, Proactive Coaching Intervention for Black Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Pain.Journal of general internal medicine · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Exploring the Role of Negative Cognitions in the Relationship Between Ethnicity, Sleep, and Pain in Women With Temporomandibular Joint Disorder.The journal of pain · 2018Trial
- Pain coping skills training for African Americans with osteoarthritis study: baseline participant characteristics and comparison to prior studies.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2018Trial
- Sleep and daily pain intensity among Black and White dementia caregivers.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- The Impact of Pain Coping Strategies on Chronic Pain Among Native Americans.Journal of racial and ethnic health disparities · 2026Article
- Perspectives on Pain: A Narrative Review of Pain Beliefs, Coping, and Clinical Implications.Journal of pain research · 2026Review
- Differences in Experimental Pain Sensitivity Between Non-African and African American Healthy Individuals and Patients with Painful Chronic Pancreatitis.Journal of pain research · 2026Article
- Grit and Chronic Pain: Associations with Distress, Catastrophizing, Interference, and Control.Journal of clinical psychology in medical settings · 2025Article
- Discrimination and wellbeing are differentially related to pain severity for the racially marginalized.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2025Article
- Growth Mixture Modeling of Patient-reported Outcomes After Total Knee Arthroplasty: No Recovery Trajectory Shows Postoperative Decline or Stagnation.Journal of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Global research & reviews · 2025Article
- Shaping the future of geriatric chronic pain care: a research agenda for progress.Pain management · 2025Article
- A dual-focus approach for evaluating contributors to chronic pain: The roles of psychosocial risk and resilience factors.Current opinion in psychology · 2025Review
- Self-rated pain and observed pain behavior in Black and White Americans with chronic low back pain.The journal of pain · 2025Article
- Disparities in Clinical and Experimental Pain Between Non-Hispanic White and Asian American Individuals With Knee Osteoarthritis and the Role of Pain Catastrophizing: Pilot Study in Florida.Asian/Pacific Island nursing journal · 2025Article
10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
unlabelledCompared with white individuals, black individuals experience greater pain across clinical and experimental modalities. These race differences may be due to differences in pain-related coping. Several studies examined the relationship between race and pain coping; however, no meta-analytic review has summarized this relationship or attempted to account for differences across studies. The goal of this meta-analytic review was to quantify race differences in the overall use of pain coping strategies as well as specific coping strategies. Relevant studies were identified using electronic databases, an ancestry search, and by contacting authors for unpublished data. Of 150 studies identified, 19 met inclusion criteria, resulting in 6,489 participants and 123 effect sizes. All of the included studies were conducted in the United States. Mean effect sizes were calculated using a random effects model. Compared with white individuals, black individuals used pain coping strategies more frequently overall (standardized mean difference [d] = .25, P < .01), with the largest differences observed for praying (d = .70) and catastrophizing (d = .40). White individuals engaged in task persistence more than black individuals (d = -.28). These results suggest that black individuals use coping strategies more frequently, specifically strategies associated with poorer pain outcomes. Future research should examine the extent to which the use of these strategies mediates race differences in the pain experience. PERSPECTIVE: Results of this meta-analysis examining race differences in pain-related coping indicate that, compared with white individuals, black individuals use coping strategies more frequently, specifically those involving praying and catastrophizing. These differences in coping may help to explain race differences in the pain experience.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.