Vigil Jacob M, DiDomenico Jared, Strenth Chance, Coulombe Patrick, Kruger Eric, Mueller Andrea A, Guevara Beltran Diego, Adams Ian
Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USA.
Int J Endocrinol. 2015;2015:520719. doi: 10.1155/2015/520719. Epub 2015 Mar 29.
Background. Separate lines of research have shown that menstrual cycling and contextual factors such as the gender of research personnel influence experimental pain reporting. Objectives. This study examines how brief, procedural interactions with female and male experimenters can affect experimentally reported pain (cold pressor task, CPT) across the menstrual cycle. Methods. Based on the menstrual calendars 94 naturally cycling women and 38 women using hormonal contraceptives (M age = 19.83, SD = 3.09) were assigned to low and high fertility groups. This assignment was based on estimates of their probability of conception given their current cycle day. Experimenters (12 males, 7 females) engaged in minimal procedural interactions with participants before the CPT was performed in solitude. Results. Naturally cycling women in the high fertility group showed significantly higher pain tolerance (81 sec, d = .79) following interactions with a male but not a female experimenter. Differences were not found for women in the low fertility or contraceptive groups. Discussion. The findings illustrate that menstrual functioning moderates the effect that experimenter gender has on pain reporting in women. Conclusion. These findings have implications for standardizing pain measurement protocols and understanding how basic biopsychosocial mechanisms (e.g., person-perception systems) can modulate pain experiences.
背景。不同的研究方向表明，月经周期以及诸如研究人员性别等情境因素会影响实验性疼痛报告。目的。本研究考察与女性和男性实验者进行的简短程序性互动如何在整个月经周期中影响实验报告的疼痛（冷加压任务，CPT）。方法。根据月经日历，将94名自然月经周期女性和38名使用激素避孕的女性（平均年龄 = 19.83，标准差 = 3.09）分为高生育力组和低生育力组。这种分组是基于根据她们当前的月经周期日估算的受孕概率。在参与者独自进行CPT之前，实验者（12名男性，7名女性）与参与者进行最少的程序性互动。结果。高生育力组的自然月经周期女性在与男性而非女性实验者互动后表现出显著更高的疼痛耐受性（81秒，d = 0.79）。低生育力组或避孕组的女性未发现差异。讨论。研究结果表明，月经功能调节实验者性别对女性疼痛报告的影响。结论。这些发现对标准化疼痛测量方案以及理解基本的生物心理社会机制（如人际感知系统）如何调节疼痛体验具有启示意义。
