title: Pain Anxiety and Its Association With Pain Congruence Trajectories During the Cold Pressor Task.
abstract: Incongruence of pain severity ratings among people experiencing pain and their observers has been linked to psychological distress. Previous studies have measured pain rating congruence through static self-report, involving a single rating of pain; however, this method does not capture changes in ratings over time. The present study examined the extent to which partners were congruent on multiple ratings of a participants' pain severity during the cold pressor task. Furthermore, 2 components of pain anxiety-pain catastrophizing and perceived threat-were examined as predictors of pain congruence. Undergraduate couples in a romantic relationship (N = 127 dyads) participated in this study. Both partners completed measures of pain catastrophizing and perceived threat before randomization to their cold pressor participant or observer roles. Participants and observers rated the participant's pain in writing several times over the course of the task. On average, observers rated participants' pain as less severe than participants' rated their own pain. In addition, congruence between partners increased over time because of observers' ratings becoming more similar to participant's ratings. Finally, pain catastrophizing and perceived threat independently and jointly influenced the degree to which partners similarly rated the participant's pain.
  
  
  
  This article presents a novel application of the cold pressor task to show that pain rating congruence among romantic partners changes over time. These findings indicate that pain congruence is not static and is subject to pain anxiety in both partners.
authors.affiliation: Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan. Electronic address: shannon.clark4@wayne.edu.
authors.forename: Shannon M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Annmarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cano
authors.affiliation: Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
authors.forename: Liesbet
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Goubert
authors.affiliation: KU Leuven, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Johan W S
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Vlaeyen
authors.affiliation: Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Lee H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Wurm
authors.affiliation: Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
authors.forename: Angelia M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Corley
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D058443:Catastrophization / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D003080:Cold Temperature / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011897:Random Allocation; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Pain; anxiety; catastrophizing; congruence; couples; romantic relationships; threat