An exploratory investigation into the effects of mental defeat on pain threshold, pain rating, pain anticipation, and mood

Abstract

In chronic pain, mental defeat is considered as a disabling type of self-evaluation triggered by repeated episodes of debilitating pain. This exploratory study experimentally tested the effect of an activated sense of defeat, as well as its interaction with pain catastrophizing, on pain and mood. Participants (N = 71) were allocated to either high or low pain catastrophizing groups and then randomly assigned to receive either defeat or neutral manipulations. A cold pressor task administered before and after the thought manipulation measured pain threshold, alongside visual analogue scales for mental defeat, attention, pain intensity, pain anticipation as well as mood. Thought manipulation checks supported successful defeat activation. Defeat activation was associated with increased negative mood and attentional disengagement from the nociceptive stimuli, irrespective of pain catastrophizing tendency. There were no changes in pain threshold, pain or pain anticipation ratings. The results suggest that mental defeat can be experimentally activated using an autobiographical memory task and that an activated sense of defeat appears to operate independently from pain catastrophizing in influencing mood and attentional disengagement from the nociceptive stimuli. Future research can utilize our experimental approach to evaluate the effect of an activated sense of mental defeat in people with chronic pain, for whom the magnitude of pain, mood and attentional responses may be stronger and broader.

Investigating mental defeat in individuals with chronic pain: Protocol for a longitudinal experience sampling study

“…24 In pain-free volunteers, an activated sense of mental defeat appears to operate independently from existing pain-related psychological constructs such as pain catastrophising, in influencing mood and attentional disengagement from nociceptive stimuli. 25 Together, these findings suggest how a person's self-perception in relation to pain matters in terms of predicting and explaining outcomes.…”

“…Based on previous work,10 11 25 we hypothesise that, for an individual, a strong sense of mental defeat will be associated with subsequent greater reports of pain, reduced physical and social activity, possible increased use of medication and poorer sleep. Examinations of the dynamic temporal and contemporaneous networks of mental defeat with mechanisms and outcomes are novel and exploratory.…”