The paradox of wellbeing: what happens among women with fibromyalgia? The effect of cognitive fusion

Abstract

Objective

Our study examined the ‘paradox of wellbeing’ among women with fibromyalgia and the role of cognitive fusion on wellbeing in relation to age.

Methods

A total of 228 women diagnosed with fibromyalgia according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria were included. In order to explore the conditional effects of age in the moderation analyzes, as recommended in the PROCESS Macro, the 16th, 50th, and 84th percentiles were calculated. These percentiles define three age groups that we will call younger (from 30 to 53 years), middle-aged (from 54 to 60 years) and older women (from 61 to 78 years).

Results

We found a ‘paradox of wellbeing’ among fibromyalgia patients which has not yet been reported: the older the patients, the higher scores on hedonic (positive affect) and eudaimonic (activities engagement) wellbeing. A moderation effect of age was found in the relationship between cognitive fusion and wellbeing (cognitive fusion showed negative associations with positive affect and activities engagement but not among older patients).

Conclusion

Our study underscores the need of personalized interventions for fibromyalgia patients to improve their wellbeing. Especially in younger and middle-aged patients, it would be of interest interventions in cognitive defusion through Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

Keywords:

• Age differences
• fibromyalgia
• wellbeing
• cognitive fusion
• moderation

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethics approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The study was approved by the Bioethics Committee of Rey Juan Carlos University (Reference PI17/00858).

Funding

This work was funded by the Health Research Found (Fondo de Investigación en Salud), grant number PI17/00858 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain), co-financed by the European Union through the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER).

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the Health Research Found (Fondo de Investigación en Salud), grant number PI17/00858 from the Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain), co-financed by the European Union through the Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional (FEDER).