The time course of attentional biases in pain : a meta-analysis of eye tracking studies

in PAIN (2021)

Motor action changes pain perception : a sensory attenuation paradigm in the context of pain

in PAIN (2021)

Adherence to the physical distancing measures during the COVID‐19 pandemic : a HAPA‐based perspective

in Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being (2020), 12(4), 1224--1243

Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic requires massive and rapid behavior change. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) describes personal determinants that play a key role in behavior change. This study ... [more ▼]

Background: The COVID‐19 pandemic requires massive and rapid behavior change. The Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) describes personal determinants that play a key role in behavior change. This study investigated whether these determinants are associated with adherence to physical distancing measures to prevent the spread of COVID‐19 (i.e. keeping 1.5 m physical distance and staying at home). Decreased psychosocial well‐being and lack of social support were explored as barriers to adherence. 2,379; March 2020) focused on adherence to physical distancing measures. The second survey (N = 805; April 2020) focused on difficulty with, and perseverance in, adhering to these measures. Linear regression models were fitted to examine associations with HAPA determinants, psychosocial well‐being, and social support. Results: Self‐efficacy, outcome expectancies, intention, action planning, and coping planning were related to adhering to, difficulty with, and perseverance in, adhering to physical distancing measures. Decreased psychosocial well‐being and lack of social support were related to more difficulties with adhering to physical distancing and lower perseverance. Conclusions: Health action process approach determinants are associated with adherence to physical distancing measures. Future work could design HAPA‐based interventions to support people in adhering to these measures. [less ▲]

Neuroticism may not reflect emotional variability

in PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (2020), 117(17), 9270--9276

Neuroticism is one of the major traits describing human personality, and a predictor of mental and physical disorders with profound public health significance. Individual differences in emotional ... [more ▼]

Neuroticism is one of the major traits describing human personality, and a predictor of mental and physical disorders with profound public health significance. Individual differences in emotional variability are thought to reflect the core of neuroticism. However, the empirical relation between emotional variability and neuroticism may be partially the result of a measurement artifact reflecting neuroticism’s relation with higher mean levels—rather than greater variability—of negative emotion. When emotional intensity is measured using bounded scales, there is a dependency between variability and mean levels: at low (or high) intensity, it is impossible to demonstrate high variability. As neuroticism is positively associated with mean levels of negative emotion, this may account for the relation between neuroticism and emotional variability. In a metaanalysis of 11 studies (<jats:italic>N</jats:italic> = 1,205 participants; 83,411 observations), we tested whether the association between neuroticism and negative emotional variability was clouded by a dependency between variability and the mean. We found a medium-sized positive association between neuroticism and negative emotional variability, but, when using a relative variability index to correct for mean negative emotion, this association disappeared. This indicated that neuroticism was associated with experiencing more intense, but not more variable, negative emotions. Our findings call into question theory, measurement scales, and data suggesting that emotional variability is central to neuroticism. In doing so, they provide a revisionary perspective for understanding how this individual difference may predispose to mental and physical disorders. [less ▲]

Parental (non-)pain attending verbalizations moderate the relationship between child attention and memory bias for pain

in EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF PAIN (2020), 24(9), 1797--1811

Background: Children's negatively biased pain‐related memories (i.e. recalling pain as being more intense or fearful than initially reported) have been recognized as a key factor in explaining child pain ... [more ▼]

Background: Children's negatively biased pain‐related memories (i.e. recalling pain as being more intense or fearful than initially reported) have been recognized as a key factor in explaining child pain development. While mechanisms underlying children's pain memory development remain poorly understood, attention biases and parent language have been implicated in conceptual models. This study examined the association between child pain‐related attention and memory biases and the moderating role of parental pain and non‐pain attending verbalizations. Methods: Participants were 51 school children and one of their parents. Probability of initial fixation and gaze duration to pain were assessed using eye tracking methodology. Children performed a cold pressor task (CPT) and reported on experienced pain intensity and pain‐related fear. A 3‐minute parent–child interaction upon CPT completion allowed measurement of parental pain and non‐pain attending verbalizations. Children's pain‐related memories were elicited 2 weeks later. Results: Findings indicated that the relationship between maintained attention to pain and fear memory bias was moderated by parental non‐pain attending verbalizations such that higher gaze duration bias was positively associated with fear memory bias but only among children whose parents demonstrated low levels of non‐pain attending verbalizations. The opposite pattern was observed for children whose parents showed high levels of non‐pain attending verbalizations. No such effects were observed for child initial attention bias to pain, memory bias for pain and parental pain attending verbalizations. Conclusions: Findings highlight the importance of parental and child pain‐related variables as well as their interaction in understanding negatively biased pain‐related memories. Significance: This study on child pain memories is the first to highlight that characteristics of the social context, such as parental (non‐)pain‐related verbalizations, as well as factors related to the intra‐individual experience of pain, such as child attention bias to pain, should be studied jointly, as they interact with each other in their effect on the emergence of negatively biased memories of painful events. [less ▲]

Mindfulness, worries, and parenting in parents of children with type 1 diabetes

in JOURNAL OF PEDIATRIC PSYCHOLOGY (2019), 44(4), 499--508

Objective Parents of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) often experience distress and worries, which may negatively impact their parenting behaviors. The current study investigates parental mindfulness ... [more ▼]

Objective Parents of children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) often experience distress and worries, which may negatively impact their parenting behaviors. The current study investigates parental mindfulness (i.e., an enhanced attention to and awareness of current experiences or present reality) as a resilience mechanism. Using a daily diary approach, the predictive role of parental mindfulness for daily diabetes-related worries was examined, its impact upon protective parenting behaviors, and its buffering role in the relationship between daily worries and protective parenting behaviors. Methods Participants were 56 parents of 40 children with T1D (2–12 years). Trait mindfulness was assessed with the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale. Subsequently, parents completed a diary for 14 consecutive days, assessing parental worries about hypo- and hyperglycemia and general and diabetes-specific parental protective behavior. Results Multilevel analyses showed that parental diabetes-related worries fluctuated substantially across days and positively predicted daily protective behavior. Higher levels of parental mindfulness predicted less daily worries about hypoglycemia and lower engagement in general protective behavior and hypoglycemia avoidance behavior. In addition, the relationship between worries about hyperglycemia and general protective behavior was moderated by parental mindfulness. Conclusions The present findings highlight the importance of daily parental worries in explaining parental protective behaviors on a daily basis. Mindfulness emerged as a promising resilience factor in parents of children with T1D, resulting in less daily worries and protective parenting. These results have important clinical implications and point to the promising role of mindfulness interventions in this context. [less ▲]

Pain Unstuck: The Role of Action and Motivation

in Clinical Journal of Pain (2019)

Background: What is it that motivates our actions? As human beings, existing as part of complex societies, the actions we take are subject to multiple, often competing motives. Spanning nonconscious ... [more ▼]

Background: What is it that motivates our actions? As human beings, existing as part of complex societies, the actions we take are subject to multiple, often competing motives. Spanning nonconscious reflexes, cognitively derived choice as well as long- and short-term goals, our actions allow us to make sense of our environment. Pain disrupts action and hijacks our intentions. Whilst considered adaptive when temporary, pain that persists continues to interrupt and can threaten our ability to actively investigate a changing world. Objective: This work is a narrative review. Results: Drawing upon three complementary theoretical approaches to pain: an embodied framework, a motivational approach and the avoidance-endurance model, this review places the relationship between pain, motivation and action at its core, unpicking a dynamic process that can become stuck. Conclusions: In taking a wide view of pain and action, we expose the nuances within drive to goal behaviour in the presence of pain. This has implications for the clinic, specifically in relation to assessing the multifactorial influences that shape action in pain. But it also seeks to go further, considering the broader environment in which we make decisions and the influence that other professionals, outside of typical healthcare roles, may play a part in the maintenance and resolution of pain. Key Words: pain unstuck, embodied pain, motivation, cognitive bias, avoidance vs. endurance [less ▲]

Parental emotion and pain control behaviour when faced with child’s pain : the emotion regulatory role of parental pain-related attention-set shifting and heart rate variability

in PAIN (2019), 160(2), 322--333

Does attention bias modification training impact on task performance in the context of pain: An experimental study in healthy participants

in PLoS ONE (2018)

Attention has been theorized to play a key role in the experience of pain and associated task interference. Training attention away from pain via attention bias modification (ABM) training techniques has ... [more ▼]

Attention has been theorized to play a key role in the experience of pain and associated task interference. Training attention away from pain via attention bias modification (ABM) training techniques has been proposed to improve pain-related outcomes, but evidence is inconsistent. In an experimental study, we investigated the impact of a single session ABM training -using a visual probe paradigm with idiosyncratic pain words- on cold pressor test (CPT) pain experience and task interference by pain. Fifty-eight healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to an ABM training group (N = 28; attending away from pain) and a sham training group (N = 30; no training direction). At pre-training, participants performed a baseline Random-Interval-Repetition (RIR) task and the CPT. Participants reported on sensations they experienced during the baseline CPT. Relevant descriptors were integrated in the visual probe paradigm during the training phase. At post-training, participants completed the RIR task again while experiencing CPT pain. Participants also reported on the extent they attended to the pain and the intensity/unpleasantness of the pain. Results indicated that, in contrast with our hypotheses, ABM training did also not reduce task interference due to CPT pain. Furthermore, ABM training did not change self-reported attending to CPT pain. Finally, ABM training did not reduce CPT pain intensity or pain unpleasantness. Overall, the current study provides no support for the effectiveness of a single session ABM training in improving pain-related outcomes. Future research addressing the conditions under which ABM training improves or fails to improve pain-related outcomes is warranted. [less ▲]

Parental emotion and pain control behaviour when faced with child’s pain: the emotion regulatory role of parental pain-related attention-set shifting and heart rate variability

in Pain (2018)

, The present study investigated the moderating role of parental pain-related attention-set shifting and heart rate variability (HRV) for parental distress and pain control behaviour when faced with their ... [more ▼]

, The present study investigated the moderating role of parental pain-related attention-set shifting and heart rate variability (HRV) for parental distress and pain control behaviour when faced with their child’s pain. Participants were 54 school children and one of their parents. Parental HRV was assessed at study commencement followed by a cued switching task indexing parental ability to flexibly shift attention between pain-related and neutral attentional sets. In a subsequent phase, parents observed their child perform a CPT task, allowing assessment of parental pain control behavior (indexed by latency to stop their child’s CPT performance) and parental distress – assessed via self-report following observation of child CPT performance. Findings indicated that parental facilitated attentional shifting (i.e., engage) towards a pain-related attentional set contributed to higher levels of pain control behaviour when faced with increasing levels of chid facial display of pain. Pain control behaviour amongst parents who demonstrated impeded attentional shifting to a pain-related attentional set was equally pronounced regardless of low or high levels of child pain expression. Parental ability to shift attention away (i.e., disengage) from a pain related set to a neutral set did not impact findings. Results further indicated that whereas high levels of parental HRV buffers the impact of child facial pain display upon parental emotional distress and pain control behaviour, low levels of HRV constitute a risk factor for higher levels of parental distress and pain control behaviour when faced with increased child facial pain display. Theoretical/clinical implications and further research directions are discussed. [less ▲]