Social Comparison and related psychosocial variables: a review of cancer and chronic pain

Abstract

Resumen: El concepto de comparación social ha despertado gran interés en a investigación que lo evalúan con el estado de salud. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo revisar el constructo de comparación social en enfermos oncológicos y de dolor crónico y estudiar la relación de la comparación social con otras variables psicosociales y resultados adaptativos. Para ello se consultaron las bases de datos Medline y PsycInfo y se obtuvieron un total de 69 trabajos para enfermos oncológicos y 22 para pacientes con enfermedad crónica. Para la revisión del constructo, se seleccionaron un total de 20 estudios empíricos en enfermos oncológicos y 9 en enfermos crónicos. Entre los principales resultados de la revisión realizada, estos muestran que la mayoría de los trabajos han utilizado herramienta elaborado ad hoc, dificultando la replicación de los resultados. Además, no todos los trabajos consultados incluyen las dos dimensiones de la comparación social (orientación e interpretación) para analizar adecuadamente la influencia de la comparación social. Las implicaciones teóricas son discutidas en el trabajo. Palabras clave: comparación social; psicosocial; cáncer; dolor crónico.Title: Social Comparison and related psychosocial variables: a review of cancer and chronic pain. Abstract: The concept of social comparison has aroused great interest in the research that evaluated the health state. The aims of this paper are to review the construct of social comparison in cancer patients and chronic pain and to study the relationship of social comparison with other psychosocial variables and adaptive outcomes. It was consulted databases Medline and PsycInfo and obtained a total of 69 report for cancer patients and 20 for patients with chronic disease. To the construct review, we selected a total of 22 empirical studies in cancer patients and 9 studies to chronic disease. The results of the review showed that most studies have used ad hoc developed tool. This is an obstacle to results replication. Moreover, not all the papers consulted include the two dimensions of social comparison (orientation and interpretation) to properly analyze the influence of social comparison. The theoretical implications are discussed at paper. Key words: social comparison; psychosocial; cancer; chronic pain. IntroducciónEl concepto de comparación social (CS) y su influencia en los resultados de salud y en la adaptación de los pacientes crónicos, ha despertado un interés creciente en la investigación, y así se refleja en el mayor número de estudios que lo evalúan relacionándolo con el estado de salud (Buunk y Gibbons, 1997;Taylor y Lobel, 1989;Wills, 1997;Suls y Wheeler;. De un modo sencillo, podríamos decir que evaluar un problema de salud como "amenaza" percibida produce incertidumbre, y ésta aumenta la necesidad de información y, por lo tanto, el deseo de comparación. Este proceso, según el tipo de comparación que se realice, podría tener fines más o menos adaptativos (Gibbons y Buunk, 1999; Taylor, Buunk y Aspinwall, 1990). Por ejemplo, en algunos...

Profiles of Women With Fibromyalgia and Social Comparison Processes

“…The other group, or more "adaptive" profile, included women who showed moderate levels of pain perception, with a lower level of anxiety and depression and more frequent "favorable" social comparison strategies (upward identification and downward contrast). These profiles are consistent with other studies that have correlated these variables in the same way (Terol et al, 2012;Cabrera-Perona et al, 2017) or have identified similar groups of patients in FM (Giesecke et al, 2003;De Souza et al, 2009;Calandre et al, 2011;Keller et al, 2011;Docampo et al, 2013). Giesecke et al (2003) proposed three profiles, one of which shows moderate anxiety / depression and less pain, while another presents a higher level of anxiety / depression and pain.…”

“…They also compare themselves with others (referents) on "similar health problems" and on contents such as "symptoms." These results coincide with another recent study on FM (Terol et al, 2007b(Terol et al, , 2012 but differ from findings in other chronic patients (rheumatoid arthritis or cancer patients) who used upward identification and/or downward contrast more often (Blalock et al, 1990;De Vellis et al, 1990;Dibb and Yardley, 2006;Terol et al, 2007bTerol et al, , 2012. The findings regarding the profiles in FM patients revealed two different subgroups.…”

“…According to the social comparison theory, lack of information and uncertainty can trigger cognitive processes of social comparison (Festinger, 1954). Indeed, chronic patients with higher uncertainty show more anxiety and depression symptoms and interest in social comparison (Butzer and Kuiper, 2006;Terol et al, 2007bTerol et al, , 2012Terol et al, , 2014Terol-Cantero et al, 2015;Cabrera-Perona et al, 2017). These patients usually compare themselves with "others" or "referents" who are considered psychologically close or in a similar situation (e.g., same diagnosis) (Suls et al, 2002;Buunk and Gibbons, 2006;Corcoran et al, 2011).…”

“…However, social comparisons with better-off "others" while focusing on differences (upward contrast), or with worse-off "others" while perceiving similarities (downward identification) would lead to negative affect (Buunk et al, 1990;Smith, 2000). In chronic illness or pain, social comparison "strategies" such as upward identification and downward contrast have been associated with lower depression and better psychosocial adjustment (Van der Zee et al, 1996, 2000Terol et al, 2012); and upward contrast or downward identification have been linked to higher depression and worse adjustment (Neugebauer et al, 2003;Terol et al, 2007bTerol et al, , 2014. In the same way, a few studies on FM have shown that upward identification or downward contrast strategies are related to lower pain perception and better mood (Affleck et al, 2000;Terol et al, 2014;Cabrera-Perona et al, 2017) and upward contrast or downward identification are associated with higher levels of anxiety and depression, and worse psychological adjustment (Affleck et al, 2000;Groothof and Scholtes, 2007;Terol et al, 2014;Cabrera-Perona et al, 2017).…”

Social Comparison and Stress Appraisal in Women with Chronic Illness

“…The Social Comparison Theory [1] proposes that a lack of information and uncertainty can trigger social comparison processes, and this is particularly common in the case of chronic illness [2][3][4][5][6]. Patients will try to search for relevant information and compare themselves with other patients with the same condition, such as the same illness diagnosis [3,[7][8][9][10][11].…”