ArticleFrontiers in psychology2021
Shame Mediates the Relationship Between Pain Invalidation and Depression.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Psychosocial factors associated with pain and health-related quality of life in Endometriosis: A systematic review.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2022Pooled it
- What do we know about medical invalidation and related concepts? - A scoping review and thematic analysis about the definitions, measurements, causes, consequences and potential solutions for medical invalidation.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Impact of chronic pain on the families of U.S. adults.Pain reports · 2026Article
- Barriers to optimal chronic pain management in refugees: a scoping review.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Exploring the role of shame and self-compassion on the link between fibromyalgia symptoms and depression: Insights from mediation and moderation analyses.Journal of health psychology · 2026Article
- Sources and consequences of self-doubt in patients with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome: a qualitative study in Europe and North America.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Pain invalidation is an independent determinant of fibromyalgia, irrespective of depression.The Korean journal of pain · 2025Article
- Discounting seems the most toxic dimension of invalidation in fibromyalgia: a cross-sectional analysis.Rheumatology international · 2025Article
- "Hurt and Misunderstood": Emotional reactions to pain dismissal in emerging adults with chronic pain.Health care transitions · 2025Article
- Understanding the link between pain invalidation and depressive symptoms: The role of shame and social support in people with chronic pain.Journal of health psychology · 2024Article
- Recent obstetrical and gynaecological care experiences and their sociodemographic and mental health correlates: A latent class analysis.Women's health (London, England)Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The experience of pain is subjective, yet many people have their pain invalidated or not believed. Pain invalidation is associated with poor mental health, including depression and lower well-being. Qualitative investigations of invalidating experiences identify themes of depression, but also social withdrawal, self-criticism, and lower self-worth, all of which are core components of shame. Despite this, no studies have quantitatively assessed the interrelationship between pain invalidation, shame, and depression. To explore this relationship, participants recounted the frequency of experienced pain invalidation from family, friends, and medical professionals, as well as their feelings of internalized shame and depressive symptoms. As shame has been shown to be a precursor for depression, we further explored the role of shame as a mediator between pain invalidation and depressive symptoms. All sources of pain invalidation were positively associated with shame and depressive symptoms, and shame fully mediated the relationship between each source of pain invalidation and depression. Relative to other sources, pain invalidation from family was most closely tied to shame and depression. Overall, findings indicate that one mechanism by which pain invalidation may facilitate depression is
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