title: Attachment style moderates partner presence effects on pain: a laser-evoked potentials study.
abstract: Social support is crucial for psychological and physical well-being. Yet, in experimental and clinical pain research, the presence of others has been found to both attenuate and intensify pain. To investigate the factors underlying these mixed effects, we administered noxious laser stimuli to 39 healthy women while their romantic partner was present or absent, and measured pain ratings and laser-evoked potentials (LEPs) to assess the effects of partner presence on subjective pain experience and underlying neural processes. Further, we examined whether individual differences in adult attachment style (AAS), alone or in interaction with the partner's level of attentional focus (manipulated to be either on or away from the participant) might modulate these effects. We found that the effects of partner presence vs absence on pain-related measures depended on AAS but not partner attentional focus. The higher participants' attachment avoidance, the higher pain ratings and N2 and P2 local peak amplitudes were in the presence compared with the absence of the romantic partner. As LEPs are thought to reflect activity relating to the salience of events, our data suggest that partner presence may influence the perceived salience of events threatening the body, particularly in individuals who tend to mistrust others.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK, Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK, charlotte.krahe@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Charlotte
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Krahé
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Yannis
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Paloyelis
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, UK, and.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Condon
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, UK, and.
authors.forename: Paul M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Jenkinson
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimaging, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Steven C R
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: Aikaterini
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fotopoulou
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007206:Individuality; D066331:Laser-Evoked Potentials; D009769:Object Attachment; D010146:Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000523:psychology; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D035502:Trust / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: attachment style; laser-evoked potentials; pain; social presence; social support