title: The effects of mindfulness-based attention on cold pressor pain in children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Typical interventions for acute pain in children attempt to reduce pain by directing attention away from pain. Conversely, mindfulness involves devoting attention to one's experience in an accepting and nonjudgmental way. However, the effect that instructing children to mindfully devote attention to acute pain has on pain outcomes is unknown.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine whether mindful attention can help children attend to pain without increasing pain intensity or decreasing pain tolerance; to compare the effects of mindful attention with a well-established intervention designed to take attention away from pain (guided imagery); and to test whether baseline coping style or trait mindfulness alter the effects of these interventions.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 82 children (10 to 14 years of age) completed measures of coping style and trait mindfulness. Participants then received either mindful attention or guided imagery instructions designed to direct attention toward or away from pain, respectively, before participating in a cold pressor task.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mindful attention group reported more awareness of the physical sensations of pain and thoughts about those sensations. Overall, there were no between-group differences in measures of pain intensity or pain tolerance during the cold pressor task, and no evidence of an interaction between baseline characteristics of the child and experimental condition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Mindful attention was successful in helping children focus attention on experimental pain without increasing pain intensity or decreasing tolerance compared with a well-established intervention for acute pain reduction.
authors: Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. mark.petter@dal.ca
authors: Mark
authors: M
authors: Petter
authors: Christine T
authors: CT
authors: Chambers
authors: Jill
authors: J
authors: MacLaren Chorney
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D001288:Attention; D002648:Child; D003080:Cold Temperature; D006801:Humans; D019018:Imagery, Psychotherapy / Q000379:methods*; D010146:Pain; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold