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Objectives The purpose of this study is to investigate the dual mediating effects of ambivalence over emotional expression and depression in the impact of socially prescribed perfectionism on chronic pain in middle-aged women. Methods The results were distributed for 291 women aged between 40 and 59 years who reported pain for more than 3 months, on scales of socially prescribed perfectionism, chronic pain, ambivalence over emotional expression, and depression. Descriptive statics, Pearson’s correlation analysis and dual mediation analysis analyzed data via SPSS 25.0, Process Macro 6 model. Results Firstly, socially prescribed perfectionism, chronic pain, ambivalence over emotional expression, and depression showed positive correlations among middle-aged women. Secondly, in the relationship between socially prescribed perfectionism and chronic pain in middle-aged women, ambivalence over emotional expression and depression sequentially showed a dual mediating effect. This means that as the level of socially prescribed perfectionism increases, leading to a higher degree of chronic pain, the clearer the emotional expression and the lower the depression, the lesser the degree of chronic pain experienced. Conclusions This study is significant for revealing the dual mediating effects of ambivalence over emotional expression and depression in the impact of socially prescribed perfectionism on chronic pain among middle-aged women. By elucidating this relationship, it provides factors for counseling and psychological interventions in situations where middle-aged women experience chronic pain due to socially prescribed perfectionism. Based on the results of the study, implications and suggestions have been presented.
Kim et al. (Sat,) studied this question.