Lessons in Affect Regulation to Keep Stress and Pain UndeR Control (LARKSPUR R34)

Positive Affect Regulation as Adjuvant to Integrative Therapies for Chronic Pain: Development of the LARKSPUR Clinic-Based Intervention

Chronic pain affects millions of Americans but integrative as well as conventional treatments fall short in terms of alleviating this pain. The investigators are testing a tailored online positive affect skills intervention through a high-quality, randomized controlled trial for people with chronic musculoskeletal pain. The proposed work holds promise as an effective, low cost, easily disseminated intervention to help people cope with chronic pain, decrease depression and distress that pose barriers to optimal adherence, and potentially boost the efficacy of integrative as well as conventional pain treatments.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age 18 and over
• Current patient at Northwestern Memorial Hospital
• Seeking treatment for chronic musculoskeletal pain at the Northwestern Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. Pain will be defined as persisting for at least the past three months with an average level over the past month of at least 4 of 10 on a numerical rating scale, including back pain, neck pain/cervicalgia, knee pain, other joint pain (hips, ankles), fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Fluent in the English language
• Have a working email address
• Have reliable Internet access in order to access the website online