Normalizing Attributions May Contribute to Non–Help-Seeking Behavior in People With Fibromyalgia Syndrome

BackgroundCausal attributions of bodily perceptions indicate the possibility of some degree of control over events. Therefore, attributions are important to support the social significance of experience and confer meaning.ObjectiveThe aim of this study is to investigate whether nonpatients with fibromyalgia (FMS) use more normalizing attributions than healthy control subjects and help-seeking patients.MethodThirty-seven FMS patients attending tertiary care were compared with 38 non-patients and 34 healthy controls on mean anxiety, depression, attribution style, and alexithymia scores.ResultsMean normalizing scores were greatest in the non-patient group, followed by the healthy-control group, and smallest in the tertiary-care attending group. Non-patients are using more normalizing explanations than the FMS patients and the healthycontrol subjects.ConclusionThus, normalization may negatively influence help-seeking behavior and contribute to non–help-seeking behavior.