Abstract
Background
Previous research has demonstrated the efficacy of cognitive engagement in reducing concurrent pain. However, little is known about the role of individual differences in inhibitory control abilities and negative pain‐related cognitions in modulating the magnitude of this type of distraction from pain.
Methods
In a pain distraction paradigm, 41 participants completed a working memory task with both a demanding high load condition (2‐back) and an easy low load condition (0‐back), while receiving warm or painful thermal stimuli to their left forearm. To control for individual differences in sensitivity to pain and perceived task difficulty, nociceptive stimulus intensity and task speed were individually calibrated. Additionally, participants completed a set of cognitive inhibition tasks (flanker, go/nogo, Stroop) and questionnaires about negative pain‐related cognitions (fear of pain, pain catastrophizing) prior to the distraction paradigm.
Results
As expected, engaging in the high load condition significantly reduced perceived intensity and unpleasantness of nociceptive stimuli, compared to the low load condition. The size of the distraction effect correlated significantly with better cognitive inhibition and selective attention abilities, as measured by the flanker task. A moderation analysis revealed a significant interaction between pain catastrophizing and performance in the flanker task in predicting the distraction effect size: Participants who performed well on the flanker task showed more pain reduction, but only when they were average to high pain catastrophizers.
Conclusions
Selective attention abilities and pain catastrophizing seem to be important factors in explaining individual differences in the size of the analgesic response to a distractive task.
from Wiley: European Journal of Pain: Table of Contents https://ift.tt/3hekmle
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