Department of Psychology, Acadia University, Wolfville, Nova Scotia.
Pain Res Manag. 2010 Nov-Dec;15(6):378-84. doi: 10.1155/2010/953496.
Despite the important role positive reinforcement of pain behaviour is believed to play in chronic pain, there is a paucity of research regarding factors that influence the provision of such reinforcement. Attachment theory suggests that individuals high in attachment avoidance view the pain behaviour of others in a negative manner and would, therefore, provide little reinforcement of pain behaviour. As an initial step in evaluating this model, relationships between attachment dimensions and attitudes toward pain behaviour were examined. Attachment avoidance was hypothesized to be negatively associated with accepting attitudes toward pain behaviour.
A sample of undergraduate students (n=160) completed the Relationships Structures Questionnaire, which provides global ratings of adult attachment dimensions (anxiety and avoidance) by assessing attachment across four relationship targets (friend, mother, father and romantic partner). Attitudes regarding the acceptability of pain behaviour were assessed using male and female versions of the Appropriate Pain Behaviour Questionnaire (APBQ).
Consistent with the hypothesis, attachment avoidance was negatively correlated with both APBQ-Female and APBQ-Male scores. Multiple regression analyses were used to investigate the relationships between the attachment scales and the APBQ scales while statistically adjusting for sex and testing for interaction effects. The findings revealed complex relationships involving interaction effects that provided further support for the hypothesis.
The findings provided support for the hypothesis that attachment avoidance is associated with less accepting attitudes toward pain behaviour. Additional research regarding the role of attachment and attitudes on responses to pain behaviour is warranted.
尽管积极强化疼痛行为被认为在慢性疼痛中起着重要作用，但关于影响这种强化的因素的研究却很少。依恋理论表明，高回避依恋的个体以消极的方式看待他人的疼痛行为，因此，他们对疼痛行为的强化很少。作为评估该模型的初步步骤，考察了依恋维度与对疼痛行为的态度之间的关系。假设回避依恋与接受疼痛行为的态度呈负相关。
一组大学生（n=160）完成了关系结构问卷，该问卷通过评估四个关系目标（朋友、母亲、父亲和浪漫伴侣）中的依恋，提供了成人依恋维度（焦虑和回避）的总体评分。使用男性和女性版本的适当疼痛行为问卷（APBQ）评估对疼痛行为的可接受性的态度。
与假设一致，回避依恋与 APBQ-女性和 APBQ-男性得分呈负相关。多元回归分析用于调查依恋量表与 APBQ 量表之间的关系，同时进行统计学调整性别，并测试交互效应。研究结果揭示了涉及交互效应的复杂关系，为假设提供了进一步的支持。
研究结果支持了回避依恋与对疼痛行为的接受程度较低的态度相关的假设。需要进一步研究依恋和态度对疼痛行为反应的作用。
