From the School of Psychology (Ye, Li, Peng) and Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Affective and Social Cognitive Science (Peng), Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, China.
Psychosom Med. 2020 Oct;82(8):796-804. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000844.
Although previous studies have shown the linkage between pain sensitivity and pain-related cognitions, this study investigated whether individual variation in pain sensitivity is related to implicit negative bias toward pain.
Two groups of participants with low (LPS) or high (HPS) pain sensitivity (LPS group: n = 33; HPS group: n = 31) were recruited based on their scores on pain sensitivity questionnaires. This categorization was later confirmed via pain ratings to electrical stimulations. Implicit negative bias toward pain was assessed using the Implicit Association Test (IAT) involving target (pain and nonpain) and attribute (negative and neutral-affect) concept words. Behavioral and event-related potential responses for congruent and incongruent pairings during the IAT were compared between the LPS and HPS groups.
Relative to the LPS group, participants in the HPS group exhibited greater D-score (Cohen's d = 0.364, p = .004). Event-related potential results showed that, although P3 amplitudes to congruent and incongruent pairings differed significantly for the HPS group (Cohen's d = 0.757, p < .001), this difference was not observed for the LPS group (Cohen's d = 0.089, p = .29). Mediation analysis further revealed that the IAT effect on P3 responses accounted for 17.58% of the association between pain sensitivity and D-score (confidence interval = [0.009-0.051]).
Individual variation in pain sensitivity relates to implicit negative bias. This linkage is partially accounted for by the electrophysiological response that has been related to cognitive process of stimulus evaluation and categorization. Pain treatment might benefit from techniques designed to alter implicit bias.
尽管先前的研究表明疼痛敏感性与疼痛相关认知之间存在联系，但本研究调查了疼痛敏感性的个体差异是否与对疼痛的内隐负性偏见有关。
根据疼痛敏感性问卷的得分，招募了两组疼痛敏感性低（LPS）或高（HPS）的参与者（LPS 组：n = 33；HPS 组：n = 31）。通过对电刺激的疼痛评分对这种分类进行了后续确认。使用涉及目标（疼痛和非疼痛）和属性（消极和中性情感）概念词的内隐联想测验（IAT）评估对疼痛的内隐负性偏见。在 IAT 中，比较了 LPS 和 HPS 组之间对一致和不一致配对的行为和事件相关电位反应。
与 LPS 组相比，HPS 组的参与者表现出更大的 D 分数（Cohen's d = 0.364，p =.004）。事件相关电位结果表明，尽管 HPS 组的 P3 幅度对一致和不一致的配对有显著差异（Cohen's d = 0.757，p <.001），但 LPS 组没有观察到这种差异（Cohen's d = 0.089，p =.29）。中介分析进一步表明，IAT 对 P3 反应的影响占疼痛敏感性和 D 分数之间关联的 17.58%（置信区间=[0.009-0.051]）。
疼痛敏感性的个体差异与内隐负性偏见有关。这种联系部分由与刺激评估和分类的认知过程相关的电生理反应来解释。疼痛治疗可能受益于旨在改变内隐偏见的技术。
