Linking family and intimate partner relationships to chronic pain: An application of the biobehavioral family model.

INTRODUCTION: Research is needed to determine mechanisms of effect linking family relationships and chronic pain for adults. Guided by the Biobehavioral Family Model (BBFM), the present study examined indirect effects between a negative family emotional climate and chronic pain disease activity, as mediated by biobehavioral reactivity. METHOD: = 1,070) completed an intimate partner strain measure, indicating they were married/in a committed relationship. Structural equation models were tested with maximum likelihood estimation and bootstrapping. RESULTS: = .14, RMSEA = .03, CFI = .99, SRMR = .01. DISCUSSION: These findings add to the growing literature that emphasizes the role of family relationships in chronic pain. Future research is needed to replicate our use of the BBFM to specify pathways of effect, incorporating relational and observational data, with diverse samples. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).