Goal disengagement and goal re-engagement processes in relation to mental wellbeing for people living with chronic pain
Abstract
Chronic pain, typically defined as pain persisting for three months or more, affects around one in five adults worldwide, and poses significant challenges to mental health and everyday functioning. Recent theory and research suggest that adaptive goal processes, effective goal disengagement and effective goal re-engagement are associated with increased well-being, in general populations. To date, however, scant research has examined these two distinct goal processes in relation to mental well-being for people living with pain. Living with chronic pain may well disrupt the pursuit of valued personal goals, thus leading to frustration and diminished mental well-being. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate whether effective goal re-engagement (i.e., the ability to re-engage in a new goal) and effective goal disengagement (i.e., the ability to effectively dis-engage), when faced with an unachievable goal, were associated with mental well-being in adults living with chronic pain. Participants were 190 Australian adults (M age = 49.46, SD = 17.38; 49.5% men), with pain duration ranging from 3 months to >5 years. Participants completed the Goal Adjustment Scale (GAS), the Warwick–Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale, and a measure of Chronic Pain Grade Scale (CPGS). As predicted, mental well-being was positively associated with effective goal re-engagement but counter to prediction, effective goal disengagement was not related to mental well-being in the full sample. Together, these findings suggest that re-engagement supports mental well-being in chronic pain, whereas the implications of disengagement may be more nuanced. Overall, these findings highlight the value of studying distinct adaptive goal mechanisms that may further inform our understanding of the nature of pain from a motivational perspective.
Keywords
chronic pain, goal dis-engagement, goal re-engagement
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Date of Publication
2026
Publication Title
International Psychological Applications and Trends 2026
Publisher
In Science Press
School
School of Arts and Humanities
RAS ID
99960
ISBN
978-989-36839-1-0
Copyright
free_to_read
Recommended Citation
Eshraghi, P., Drake, D., Iddon, J., & Dickson, J. M. (2025). Goal disengagement and goal re-engagement processes in relation to mental well-being for people living with chronic pain. In International Psychological Applications Conference and Trends 2026. https://inpact-psychologyconference.org/psychological-applications-and-trends-2026/