Pain catastrophizing, threat, and the informational value of mood: Task persistence during a painful finger pressing task

Abstract

Pain catastrophizing has shown to predict avoidance behavior in acute and chronic pain, but the literature is inconsistent. The present study tested the hypothesis that current mood and threat context moderate the relationship between pain catastrophizing and performance duration. Affective-motivational models postulate that negative and positive moods provide information about whether an activity is respectively threatening or safe. Moreover, it has been proposed that stable cognitive schemas about threat influence behavior particularly in threat-relevant contexts. The present study aimed to establish whether pain catastrophizing is related to less or greater performance duration, when participants experience respectively negative or positive moods, particularly in a high threatening pain context. A 2 mood × 2 threat context between-subjects factorial design was applied in 89 healthy participants with pain catastrophizing as covariate and performance duration during a painful finger pressing task as dependent variables. As predicted, higher pain catastrophizing was associated with less performance duration when participants experienced negative moods. The opposite was found when participants experienced positive moods. Moreover, these relationships were most pronounced in a high threatening pain context. This study suggests that the relationship between pain catastrophizing and performance duration during painful activities is moderated by situational factors such as current mood and threat context.

Experimentally Induced Stress Validated by EMG Activity

“…Interpersonal differences in this relationship, related to third variables including personality factors, may create heterogeneity. Some examples of these potentially relevant personality characteristics are maladaptive coping strategies such as catastrophizing [52], state anxiety level [53] and specific personality traits, such as neuroticism [13]. In this respect, it becomes clear that in a proper analysis of EMG variability, a multidimensional perspective is necessary.…”

Examining Affective-Motivational Dynamics and Behavioral Implications Within The Interpersonal Context of Pain

“…For instance, in response to pain stimuli, breathing exercises most directly target somatic response [42], watching a positive television program may most directly impact feeling state [47], and suppression of facial expression addresses one behavioural component of pain-related emotion [6].…”

A Self-Regulation Perspective on Avoidance and Persistence Behavior in Chronic Pain

“…Typically, independent, but not interaction effects of mood and stop rules were found. It has been concluded that the mood-as-input predictions may not apply to task persistence in the context of pain [41][42][43] . This line of research does however lend support for the role of affect and motivational orientation in task persistence.…”

“…More specifically, negative mood and holding hedonic goals are associated with less task persistence while positive mood and achievement goals predict longer task persistence [42][43][44][45] .…”