Abstract
Telomere length, a measure of cellular aging, is negatively associated with chronic pain severity and serves as an indicator of overall system functioning. While psychological resilience factors such as optimism, acceptance, positive affect and active coping have been associated with lower levels of clinical pain and greater physical functioning, it is unknown whether resilience may buffer against telomere shortening in individuals with chronic pain. Additionally, a broader conceptualization of resilience that includes biobehavioral and social factors may improve our understanding of the relationship between resilience, chronic pain, and health outcomes. We hypothesized that: 1) psychological resilience factors would be associated with longer telomere length, and 2) a combined biobehavioral/psychosocial composite would strengthen the association. A total of 79 individuals (34% Male, 66% Female) with/without knee pain completed psychological/psychosocial resilience (optimism, affect, active coping, perceived stress and social support) and biobehavioral measures (smoking status, and waist/hip ratio). Clinical cut points for each measure were established based on previously published normative data or means where applicable and used to create summative psychological (optimism, affect, coping, perceived stress) and biobehavioral/psychosocial (psychological resilience + social support, smoking, waist/hip ratio), resilience composites. Blood samples were collected and telomere length determined. Regression analyses were completed with sex, race, age, and GCPS characteristic pain intensity as additional predictors. A positive relationship emerged such that greater psychological resilience and biobehavioral/psychosocial resilience were associated with longer telomeres (p = .0295 and p = .0116, respectively). When compared with psychological resilience alone, the biobehavioral/psychosocial composite was significantly more predictive of telomere length than the psychological resilience composite (p
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