Newswise — DALLAS – June 10, 2024 – Strong family relationships have long been associated with a better sense of well-being and connection. Now a team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has linked the quality of those relationships with how successfully people – particularly aging African Americans – manage pain. The findings, published in The Journals of Gerontology, Series B , suggest factors tied to chronic pain that could improve treatment options.

“African Americans who are surrounded by positive relationships with family may be less likely to experience chronic pain as they age,” said Sarah Woods, Ph.D. , Associate Professor and Vice Chair of Research in Family and Community Medicine at UT Southwestern.

“If pain develops, they may be especially likely to achieve chronic pain remission.” The team chose to focus on African Americans because, despite well-documented disparities, this segment of the population is underrepresented in pain research. Most of the understanding involving the efficacy of pain treatment is largely driven by research conducted on healthier, mostly white patients.

“Compared with older white adults, older African Americans suffer disproportionately worse pain progression, great pain-related limitations, and increased pain-related mortality,” Dr. Woods noted. “Racial bias in pain management leads to inadequate pain treatment.

” The study analyzed responses from more than 3,300 African American participants in tw.