Major depression and chronic pain are costly public health problems in the United States. They cost billions of dollars per year in lost work, increased health care, and disability benefits. Dr. Annmarie Cano, assistant professor of Psychology in WSU’s College of Liberal Arts & Science, is doing research that is studying how couples’ stressors and difficulties correlate in persons with chronic pain, with the ultimate goal of developing marital treatments for individuals experiencing both depression and chronic musculosketal pain.

Funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health, Dr. Cano’s research aims to understand how marital difficulties may lead to changes in depression and in pain over time, and whether some couples are protected from declines in psychological and physical health. She is following 150 couples over a one-year period to examine this. “This is the first study of its kind to examine interpersonal factors that can result in psychological and physical health changes in this population,” commented Dr. Cano. “The results will likely improve the detection and treatment of depression in persons with chronic pain as well as their spouses.”

Dr. Cano received her B.A in Psychology from Princeton University, and her M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from SUNY Stonybrook.