Influence of Cognitive Orientation and Attentional Focus on Pain Perception

Abstract

Background. Recently, a growing interest has emerged in the role of attention and hypervigilance in the experience of pain. Shifting attention away from pain seems likely to reduce the perception of pain itself. Objectives. The present study has been designed to test the following overall hypotheses: (1) disposition to catastrophize, self-efficacy perceived in pain resistance (task self-efficacy), previous experiences concerning the tolerance of physical pain, and degree of impulsiveness are significant predictors of the decision to abandon a painful test such as the cold pressor test (CPT); (2) the manipulation of the attentive focus (internal or external) can influence the level of perceived pain. Methods. Effects of the manipulation of attentional focus (internal and external) on pain perception and response of trial abandonment were evaluated in a sample of university students (n = 246) subjected to the cold pressor test. Results. A significant effect (p < 0.05) was found through a test–retest comparison on the final level of perceived pain among subjects who had received instruction to externalize the focus of their attention (mixed factorial analysis of variance), but no significance was observed with respect to the decision to abandon the experiment. A general explanatory model of the abandonment behavior demonstrating overall good fit measurements was tested too. Conclusion. The abandonment of tests has been shown to be predicted mainly by catastrophic attitude. Attentive impulsiveness showed a further positive effect on catastrophic attitude. Perceived self-efficacy in the tolerance of pain limited learned helplessness, which in turn positively influenced catastrophizing.

A Psychoeducational Intervention in Prenatal Classes: Positive Effects on Anxiety, Self-Efficacy, and Temporal Focus in Birth Attendants

“…Seventh meeting. Anxiety and fear related to childbirth were discussed in depth and some coping strategies along with techniques to defuse pain perception were illustrated [75]. Eighth meeting.…”

Both Gender and Agonistic Experience Affect Perceived Pain during the Cold Pressor Test

“…While for men it appears that anxiety influences the perception of pain, women tend more towards a catastrophic approach to pain, which includes rumination, which prevents them from suppressing or diverting attention from pain-related thoughts to focus on other things, a tendency to exaggerate the unpleasantness of pain and the expectation of negative outcomes and a sense of helplessness, which reflects the inability to do anything effective to manage the moment. The incidence of catastrophic disposition and self-efficacy evaluation on pain perception has also been recently corroborated in further studies [ 20 , 21 ].…”

A psychometric evaluation of the Italian short version of the Fear of Pain Questionnaire-III: Psychometric properties, measurement invariance across gender, convergent, and discriminant validity

“…The first relationship between brooding thought and fear of major painful harm is a confirmation of one of the main convergence hypotheses posed by this study. There is both a strand of studies in the literature that predictively links remorseful amplification to more intense pain perception ( Burri et al, 2018 ; Priore et al, 2019 ; Diotaiuti et al, 2021 ; Häggman-Henrikson et al, 2021 ; Nunziato et al, 2021 ), and further empirical evidence reporting a direct effect of fear of pain on the level of actually perceived pain ( Markfelder and Pauli, 2020 ; Luo et al, 2022 ). According to some scholars, fear of pain constitutes a stronger predictor of actually perceived pain than depressive catastrophic amplification ( George et al, 2006 ; Hirsh et al, 2008 ).…”

“…To assess the convergent validity of the instrument, we combined the administration of the short version with three additional measures, different from the two used in the previous study by Di Tella et al (2019) that were related to anxiety and depression: the Pain Catastrophing Scale (PCS, Sullivan et al, 1995 ; Italian validation Monticone et al, 2012 ), the Locus of Control of Behavior Scale (LCBS, Craig et al, 1984 ; Italian validation Farma and Cortivonis, 2000 ), and the Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced (COPE, Carver et al, 1989 ; Italian validation COPE-NVI, Sica et al, 2008 ). Considering the literature evidence, we therefore hypothesized to find significant associations with PCS, both total but particularly with the brooding subscale ( Burri et al, 2018 ; Priore et al, 2019 ; Diotaiuti et al, 2021 ; Nunziato et al, 2021 ), with the external locus of control of the LBCS ( Seville and Robinson, 2000 ; Torres et al, 2009 ; Sweeney et al, 2018 ), with the avoidance coping style ( Benoit-Piau et al, 2018 ; Du et al, 2018 ; Ibrahim et al, 2020 ; Lentz et al, 2022 ) and transcendent reliance strategies of the COPE-NVI ( Flanigan et al, 2019 ; Ferreira-Valente et al, 2020 ).…”