Nocebo hyperalgesia is the phenomenon in which negative pain expectations lead to augmented pain experiences. Studies have shown that psychosocial factors might influence nocebo hyperalgesia and...Show moreNocebo hyperalgesia is the phenomenon in which negative pain expectations lead to augmented pain experiences. Studies have shown that psychosocial factors might influence nocebo hyperalgesia and facilitate nocebo responses in clinical settings, thus worsening pain. This study aimed to identify whether social stress, fear of pain and pain catastrophizing influence the magnitude of nocebo hyperalgesia. Higher nocebo hyperalgesic responses were anticipated. Additionally, the potential mediating role of subjective stress was explored. Twenty-five healthy male and female participants were recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental (social stress) and control (no-stress) conditions, which underwent the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST) and a friendly version of it (friendly-TSST), correspondingly. Fear of pain and pain catastrophizing were measured with the Fear of Pain Questionnaire-III and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Subjective stress was measured on a 0-10 Numeric Rating Scale. A sham electrical stimulation device was applied to induce nocebo along with negative verbal suggestions of pain worsening. Thermal pain stimuli were paired with ON (nocebo trial) and OFF (control trial) visual signs during the acquisition and testing blocks of nocebo conditioning. The first nocebo and control trials of the testing block were compared to estimate the extent of nocebo hyperalgesia. One-way ANOVA, simple linear regression and mediation analysis with the method of bootstrapping were applied (P < 0.05). The one-way ANOVA was non-significant between the social stress and no-stress conditions (P = 0.74). Regression results were non-significant for fear of pain (B = - 0.38, P = 0.11) and pain catastrophizing (B = - 0.30, P = 0.22). Mediation analysis for subjective stress revealed a non significant indirect effect of - 0.009 (95% BCa CI [-1.10, 0.68]). Our study suggests that social stress does not appear to increase the magnitude of nocebo hyperalgesia and that fear of pain and pain catastrophizing might not predict higher nocebo hyperalgesic responses. In addition, subjective stress may not mediate the relationship between social stress and nocebo hyperalgesia. In conclusion, as social stress, fear of pain, pain catastrophizing and subjective stress can co-occur in clinical practices, future research could examine their potential cumulative effect on nocebo hyperalgesia.Show less
Chronic pain is a highly prevalent condition leading to a variety of health problems in the population. t condition and risk factor contributing to a variety of health problems in the population....Show moreChronic pain is a highly prevalent condition leading to a variety of health problems in the population. t condition and risk factor contributing to a variety of health problems in the population. Self-efficacy and optimism are important psychological resilience factors that support individuals’ coping with pain. This study is aiming to investigate if self-efficacy could be manipulated in order to increase and decrease participants’ pain endurance, as well as the role of optimism in the relationship of self-efficacy and pain endurance. Research questions: Would individuals with increased self-efficacy have higher pain endurance? Is the effect of self-efficacy on pain endurance stronger for individuals with higher optimism scores? 36 individuals were recruited for the experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to high and low self-efficacy groups, and their self-efficacy was manipulated accordingly with verbal suggestions. A manipulation check with a self-report VAS scale was introduced to assess the effect of the manipulations. Pain endurance was measured by a cold pressor task (CPT), while optimism was measured by the Lifestyle Orientation Test - Revised (LOT-R) scale. Pain endurance levels of low and high self-efficacy groups were measured via an independent t-test, and the interaction effect of optimism as a moderator between self-efficacy and pain endurance was investigated via a moderation analysis by PROCESS macro in SPSS. The manipulation check showed no significant difference between the scores of the high self-efficacy group and the low self-efficacy group, t(34) = -1.635, p = 1.111. Results showed that there was no significant difference between the pain endurance levels of the low self-efficacy group and the high self-efficacy group, U = 153, p = .77. The moderation analysis showed that while the model was significant, optimism did not have a significant interaction effect (b = -3.42, t(32) = -.62, p = .54). Even though the study is still in progress; the preliminary results are not in line with the related empirical literature. More active involvement of participants in self-efficacy manipulations, a larger sample size, and further investigating the role of optimism is recommended for further assessing the role of self efficacy and optimism in coping with pain.Show less
