The communication of pain has received a great deal of attention in the pain literature; however, one form of pain communication—emotional disclosure of pain-related distress (e.g., sadness, worry, anger about pain)—has not been studied extensively. The current study examined the extent to which this form of pain communication occurred during an observed conversation with one’s spouse and also investigated the correlates and consequences of disclosure. Individuals with chronic pain (ICPs) and their spouses (N = 95 couples) completed several questionnaires regarding pain, psychological distress, and relationship distress as well as video recorded interactions about the impact of pain on their lives. Approximately two-thirds of ICPs (n = 65) disclosed their pain-related distress to their spouses. ICPs who reported greater pain severity, ruminative catastrophizing and affective distress about pain, and depressive and anxiety symptoms were more likely to disclose their distress to their spouses. Spouses of ICPs who disclosed only once or twice were significantly less likely to invalidate their partners whereas spouses of ICPs who disclosed at a higher rate were significantly more likely to validate their partners. Furthermore, spouses were more likely to engage in invalidation after attempting more neutral or validating responses, suggesting an erosion of support when ICPs engaged in high rates of disclosure. Correlates of spousal invalidation included both spouses’ helplessness catastrophizing, ICPs’ affective distress about pain, and spouses’ anxiety, suggesting that both partners’ distress are implicated in maladaptive disclosure-response patterns. Findings are discussed in light of pain communication and empathy models of pain.

Teacher’s Pet, an animal assisted therapy (AAT) was assessed in a randomized controlled trial with incarcerated youth from two Midwestern United States detention facilities. The AAT was expected to increase empathy and reduce behavior problems. Participants trained dogs one hour, twice weekly for 10 weeks. A control group walked but did not train dogs for the same duration. Both groups attended one hour, twice weekly animal didactics. Of 138 participants, 117 provided complete data, and 21 had some missing data imputed. Contrary to expectation, both groups increased slightly in self-reported empathy, and staff and youth rated internalizing problems. The time youth spent with dogs plus animal didactics may have increased empathy. Increased internalizing problems could be attributed to youth gaining greater emotional awareness. Alternately, this brief intervention may not have any immediate effects, given the small changes observed. Additional follow-up of these youth and other comparison groups are needed.

No abstract

The feedback intervention showed preliminary efficacy for increasing person-centered communication skills and perceived empathy and intimacy.

The growing interest in the mechanisms through which human-animal interaction (HAI) benefits humans suggests that new measures are needed to assess human bonding, especially to non-owned animals (i.e., animals that are not the human’s pet). The current study addressed this need by developing and testing a new measure to assess human bonding behavior with non-owned animals, during an animal-assisted intervention that incorporated shelter dogs. An observational measure, a 12-item Bonding with Dog Checklist (BoDC), was created based on prior work on dog bonding and attachment. Participants in the study were incarcerated adolescents residing in two juvenile detention centers (N = 131). An Exploratory Factor Analysis resulted in a final 7-item measure with a single factor structure and good inter-item reliability ( alpha = .864). Raters used the 7-item BoDC to assess bonding of youth with dogs as they trained or walked shelter dogs during a 10-week intervention. Seventeen raters were trained in use of the observational measure and attended weekly supervision meetings. BoDC scores increased over the sessions and the BoDC was moderately correlated with a measure of dog attachment in the first half of the intervention, providing some evidence for construct validity. These results provide preliminary evidence for the BoDC as a reliable and valid measure to assess human bonding to animals that are not their personal companions.