An investigation of the relationship between social media use, pain catastrophizing, and symptom severity in fibromyalgia patients.
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| Title: | An investigation of the relationship between social media use, pain catastrophizing, and symptom severity in fibromyalgia patients. |
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| Authors: | Keleş Önal, Aslı (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Psychology, Health & Medicine. Jul2026, Vol. 31 Issue 6, p1486-1496. 11p. |
| Subjects: | Social media, Internet addiction, Cross-sectional method, Pearson correlation (Statistics), Pain measurement, Fibromyalgia, Visual analog scale, Multiple regression analysis, Severity of illness index, Tertiary care, Facebook (Web resource), Longitudinal method, Marital status, Pain catastrophizing, Twitter (Web resource), Confidence intervals, Employment |
| Geographic Terms: | Türkiye |
| Abstract: | The effects of social media use on disease outcomes in patients with fibromyalgia, as well as the role of pain catastrophizing in this context, remain unclear. We examined the relationships among social media use, social media addiction, symptom severity, and pain catastrophizing in patients with fibromyalgia. This study included 100 patients with fibromyalgia. The duration of social media use was recorded. The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire was used to assess disease severity, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to evaluate pain, the Social Media Addiction Scale–Adult Form to assess social media addiction, and the pain catastrophizing questionnaire to measure pain catastrophizing. No significant relationships were found between social media addiction and fibromyalgia severity, VAS score, total pain catastrophizing, or its subdomains. Similarly, no significant correlations were observed between the duration of social media use and fibromyalgia severity, VAS score, total pain catastrophizing, or its subdomains. However, the duration of social media use was significantly positively correlated with social media addiction. Pain catastrophizing total and subdomain scores were significantly positively correlated with both VAS scores and fibromyalgia severity. Multiple linear regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, and pain demonstrated that neither the duration of social media use nor the severity of social media addiction significantly predicted fibromyalgia severity or pain catastrophizing. In conclusion, this study found a significant association between fibromyalgia severity and pain catastrophizing, whereas social media use had no significant effect on these outcomes. This finding highlights the importance of addressing pain catastrophizing in the management of patients with fibromyalgia. KEY POLICY HIGHLIGHTS: The severity of fibromyalgia and VAS scores were significantly and positively correlated with pain catastrophizing. Although fibromyalgia severity was associated with pain catastrophizing, social media use showed no significant effect on these outcomes. This underscores the importance of psychological interventions to address patients' pain perception in the treatment of fibromyalgia and may help guide clinical practice. The development of new approaches for fibromyalgia, an important rheumatologic disease, could represent a meaningful contribution for publication in this journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | The effects of social media use on disease outcomes in patients with fibromyalgia, as well as the role of pain catastrophizing in this context, remain unclear. We examined the relationships among social media use, social media addiction, symptom severity, and pain catastrophizing in patients with fibromyalgia. This study included 100 patients with fibromyalgia. The duration of social media use was recorded. The Fibromyalgia Impact Questionnaire was used to assess disease severity, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to evaluate pain, the Social Media Addiction Scale–Adult Form to assess social media addiction, and the pain catastrophizing questionnaire to measure pain catastrophizing. No significant relationships were found between social media addiction and fibromyalgia severity, VAS score, total pain catastrophizing, or its subdomains. Similarly, no significant correlations were observed between the duration of social media use and fibromyalgia severity, VAS score, total pain catastrophizing, or its subdomains. However, the duration of social media use was significantly positively correlated with social media addiction. Pain catastrophizing total and subdomain scores were significantly positively correlated with both VAS scores and fibromyalgia severity. Multiple linear regression analysis adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, and pain demonstrated that neither the duration of social media use nor the severity of social media addiction significantly predicted fibromyalgia severity or pain catastrophizing. In conclusion, this study found a significant association between fibromyalgia severity and pain catastrophizing, whereas social media use had no significant effect on these outcomes. This finding highlights the importance of addressing pain catastrophizing in the management of patients with fibromyalgia. KEY POLICY HIGHLIGHTS: The severity of fibromyalgia and VAS scores were significantly and positively correlated with pain catastrophizing. Although fibromyalgia severity was associated with pain catastrophizing, social media use showed no significant effect on these outcomes. This underscores the importance of psychological interventions to address patients' pain perception in the treatment of fibromyalgia and may help guide clinical practice. The development of new approaches for fibromyalgia, an important rheumatologic disease, could represent a meaningful contribution for publication in this journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 13548506 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/13548506.2025.2587260 |
