Cognitive failure and chronic pain.

Relationships between pain variables, emotional functioning, and cognitive inefficiency as assessed by the Cognitive Failures Questionnaire (CFQ) were investigated. In general, the tendency to make cognitive errors was found to be related to emotional difficulties but to be unrelated to pain variables. Four explanations were proposed: First, that increased reports of cognitive and affective difficulties may reflect a "complaining" response set; second, that the constructs of cognitive inefficiency and affective distress overlap while the constructs of the former and pain do not; third, cognitive and affective dysfunction exist in a circular relationship; and finally, that high rates of cognitive failure may predispose pain patients to have subsequent difficulties with low mood.