The influence of anxiety on pain: attentional and attributional mediators
- 1 March 1994
- journal article
- Published by Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) in Pain
- Vol. 56 (3), 307-314
- https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-3959(94)90169-4
Abstract
Two psychological processes mediating the influence of anxiety on pain have been proposed: an attributional process in which the pain-relevance of anxiety is the essential factor, and an attentional process in which the focus of attention is the essential factor. The present study investigated the influences of attentional focus, pain-irrelevant anxiety and pain-relevant anxiety in a within-subject design (n = 40). Subjects received painful electrical stimulation in each of 5 experimental conditions. The results indicate that pain ratings were only influenced by attentional focus and not by anxiety, regardless of whether it was pain-relevant or pain-irrelevant. Autonomic responses (skin conductance responses) were, however, only influenced by pain-relevant anxiety. Thus, it seems that with respect to subjective pain responses the attentional theory on the influence of anxiety on pain can explain the results. The attributional theory seems to hold for autonomic pain responses. However, these responses might as well be considered as fear responses. Whereas there is clear evidence for a role of attentional focus in the influence of anxiety on pain, the role of attributional processes remains to be demonstrated.Keywords
This publication has 24 references indexed in Scilit:
- Anxiety, attention and painJournal of Psychosomatic Research, 1993
- The effects of incorrect pain expectations on acquired fear and pain responsesBehaviour Research and Therapy, 1991
- Can anxiety help us tolerate pain?Pain, 1991
- Attention, not anxiety, influences painBehaviour Research and Therapy, 1991
- The effect of experimentally induced anxiety on the experience of pressure painPain, 1988
- Induced anxiety and painJournal of Anxiety Disorders, 1987
- Psychological control of acute pain in medical settingsJournal of Pain and Symptom Management, 1987
- Effects of a Warning Signal on Reactions to Aversive White Noise Stimulation: Does Warning “Short‐Circuit’ Habituation?Psychophysiology, 1986
- A perceptual-defensive-recuperative model of fear and painBehavioral and Brain Sciences, 1980
- Cognitive strategies, expectancy, and coping style in the control of pain.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1979