Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation for Enhancing Coping Skills and Reducing Pain in Women with Chronic Pain Conditions: A Narrative Review

Chronic pain in women is increasingly recognized as a sustained biopsychosocial condition that affects not only physical functioning but also emotional regulation, cognitive processing, identity, and long-term coping capacity. Women living with chronic pain are frequently exposed to prolonged physiological arousal, cumulative emotional labour, and sociocultural expectations that emphasise endurance and role fulfilment over emotional expression and self-care. Over time, these pressures heighten stress reactivity, reinforce maladaptive cognitive patterns such as catastrophizing and hypervigilance, and contribute to emotional exhaustion, reduced perceived control, and diminished psychological resilience. As a result, effective pain management requires interventions that address the psychological and psychophysiological mechanisms through which pain is experienced and regulated.
This narrative review integrates psychological theory and empirical evidence to examine the role of Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation (JPMR) in enhancing coping skills and reducing pain among women with chronic pain conditions. The review synthesises findings across psychophysiological, emotional, and cognitive domains to clarify how JPMR functions as a mind–body intervention within women those lived with experiences of pain. Evidence consistently suggests that JPMR reduces muscle tension and autonomic hyperactivation, facilitating a state of physiological calm that supports emotional regulation, cognitive clarity, and more intentional coping responses. These regulatory shifts are associated with improvements in coping self-efficacy, reduced emotional distress, and more adaptive engagement with persistent pain.
Importantly, JPMR emerges not merely as a relaxation technique but as a coping-enhancement strategy that restores psychological agency often eroded by chronic pain. Its structured, accessible, and self-directed nature makes it particularly suitable for women managing chronic pain alongside caregiving responsibilities, emotional labour, and limited access to specialised psychological care. By strengthening self-regulatory capacity and reducing stress-driven reactivity, JPMR supports sustainable psychological adjustment to long-term pain.
Overall, this review positions Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation as a psychologically grounded and clinically meaningful intervention that addresses core psychophysiological and emotional mechanisms underlying chronic pain in women.

Chronic pain in women, Jacobson’s Progressive Muscle Relaxation, coping skills, emotional regulation, psychophysiological intervention, self-efficacy, stress reactivity, women’s health psychology, pain management, and mind–body practices.

1. Akbari, M., Dehghani, M., Khatibi, A., & Vervoort, T. (2019). The role of progressive muscle relaxation in improving psychological wellbeing and self-efficacy in individuals with chronic illness. Journal of Health Psychology, 24(5), 689–699. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105317691097 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

2. Carver, C. S. (1997). You want to measure coping but your protocol is too long: Consider the Brief COPE. International Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 4(1), 92–100. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327558ijbm0401_6 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

3. Fillingim, R. B., King, C. D., Ribeiro-Dasilva, M. C., Rahim-Williams, B., & Riley, J. L. (2009). Sex, gender, and pain: A review of recent clinical and experimental findings. The Journal of Pain, 10(5), 447–485. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2008.12.001 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

4. Fisher, E., Heathcote, L. C., Eccleston, C., Simons, L. E., Palermo, T. M., & Law, E. F. (2020). Assessment of coping strategies in chronic pain: A comprehensive review. Pain Reports, 5(1), e801. https://doi.org/10.1097/PR9.0000000000000801 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

5. Gatchel, R. J., Peng, Y. B., Peters, M. L., Fuchs, P. N., & Turk, D. C. (2007). The biopsychosocial approach to chronic pain: Scientific advances and future directions. Psychological Bulletin, 133(4), 581–624. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.4.581 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

6. Given, B. A., & Sherwood, P. R. (2020). Family care for the older person with cancer. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 36(2), 151013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soncn.2020.151013 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

7. Hölzel, B. K., Lazar, S. W., Gard, T., Schuman-Olivier, Z., Vago, D. R., & Ott, U. (2011). How does mindfulness meditation work? Proposing mechanisms of action from a conceptual and neural perspective. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(6), 537–559. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691611419671 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

8. Jacobson, E. (1938). Progressive relaxation. University of Chicago Press. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

9. Kabat-Zinn, J. (1994). Wherever you go, there you are: Mindfulness meditation in everyday life. Hyperion. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

10. Lim, E. C., Tang, N. K. Y., & Ho, R. T. H. (2023). Psychophysiological effects of muscle relaxation interventions on chronic pain: A systematic evaluation. The Clinical Journal of Pain, 39(2), 123–132. https://doi.org/10.1097/AJP.0000000000001084 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

11. Mashhadi-Naser, M., Sohrabi, F., & Zargar, Y. (2021). The effectiveness of progressive muscle relaxation training on pain, anxiety, and sleep disturbance in chronic pain patients. Pain Management Nursing, 22(4), 350–358. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

12. Mateu, C., Andrés-Roqueta, C., Montoya, P., & Miró, J. (2018). Effects of progressive muscle relaxation on pain intensity, mood, and disability in chronic musculoskeletal pain. Scandinavian Journal of Pain, 18(1), 85–94. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

13. Quartana, P. J., Campbell, C. M., & Edwards, R. R. (2009). Pain catastrophizing: A critical review. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics, 9(5), 745–758. https://doi.org/10.1586/ern.09.34 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

14. Saxena, R., & Majumdar, A. (2018). Gender differences in chronic pain: Social, emotional, and biological perspectives. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, 40(2), 111–118. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

15. Sharma, S., & Manjula, M. (2022). Emotional labour, gender norms and chronic pain among women: A psychological analysis. Indian Journal of Health and Wellbeing, 13(1), 35–42. [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

16. Sturgeon, J. A., & Zautra, A. J. (2010). Resilience: A new paradigm for adaptation to chronic pain. Current Pain and Headache Reports, 14(2), 105–112. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-010-0095-9 [Google Scholar] [Crossref]

• A Comparative Study of Adjustment Level, Parental Income and Academic Achievement of Adolescent Girls
• Increase in STIs among Adolescents in Masvingo District
• A Correlation between SDG 4 (Quality Education) and Emotional Disposition of Teacher Educators in Hyderabad District
• Ear Piercing Behaviour and Self-Esteem among Male University Students in Nigeria
• A Study of Religiosity and Psychological Well-Being