Attention to chronic pain is dependent upon pain-related fear.
Pain interrupts, distracts, and is difficult to disengage from. In this study, the role of pain-related fear in moderating attentional interference produced by chronic pain was investigated. Forty chronic pain patients completed a list of questionnaires assessing pain severity, pain-related fear (Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia), and negative affect (Negative Emotionality scale). Attentional interference was measured by a numerical interference test. Multiple regression analysis revealed that the attentional interference was best predicted by the interaction between pain severity and pain-related fear. These results are discussed in terms of how pain-related fear creates a hypervigilance to pain.
Crombez
G
G
Department of Psychology, University of Gent, Belgium. Geert.Crombez@rug.ac.be
Eccleston
C
C
Baeyens
F
F
van Houdenhove
B
B
van den Broeck
A
A
D000328:Adult; D001288:Attention; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004644:Emotions; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index