An Explorative Study of Pain Catastrophizing - Is Catastrophic Worry an Overlooked Aspect?
Author
Guldborg, Cilla
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2018
Submitted on
2018-05-31
Pages
80
Abstract
Chronic pain affects many people, and psychological factors such as pain catastrophizing are key contributors. This exploratory thesis examines whether catastrophic worry—a concept proposed as a possible integral part of pain catastrophizing—relates to pain catastrophizing, and whether pain catastrophizing can be experimentally influenced. In a laboratory study, 20 healthy participants completed a catastrophizing interview (generating worry steps about pain), performed a cold pressor task to assess pain tolerance, and filled out a situational pain catastrophizing scale; six weeks later they completed the standard scale. A thematic analysis of the worry steps was also conducted to explore cognitive content. No significant associations were found between the number of worry steps and either pain tolerance or situational pain catastrophizing, leaving the relation between catastrophic worry and pain catastrophizing inconclusive. At the same time, there was a non-significant tendency toward higher situational catastrophizing compared with the standard measure, cautiously suggesting that the interview may have elicited catastrophic worry and temporarily influenced catastrophizing. Overall, the findings are preliminary and not conclusive, but they point to catastrophic worry as a potentially overlooked aspect of pain catastrophizing and to the possibility of manipulating this process; further research with larger samples is needed.
Kroniske smerter belaster mange, og psykologiske faktorer som smerteskatastrofering spiller en central rolle. Denne eksplorative masterafhandling undersøger, om begrebet katastrofal bekymring—aftalt som en mulig integreret del af smerteskastrofering—har en målbar relation til smerteskatastrofering, og om smerteskatastrofering kan påvirkes eksperimentelt. I et laboratoriestudie gennemførte 20 raske deltagere en katastroferingsinterviewteknik (hvor de genererede bekymringstrin relateret til smerte), udførte en cold pressor-opgave for at måle smertetolerance, og udfyldte en situationsspecifik smerteskastroferingsskala; seks uger senere udfyldte de standardversionen af skalaen. Derudover blev indholdet af bekymringstrinene analyseret tematisk for at belyse det kognitive indhold. Der blev ikke fundet signifikante sammenhænge mellem antallet af bekymringstrin og hverken smertetolerance eller situationsspecifik smerteskastrofering, hvilket gør relationen mellem katastrofal bekymring og smerteskastrofering uklar. Samtidig sås en ikke-signifikant tendens til højere situationsspecifik smerteskastrofering sammenlignet med standardmålingen, hvilket forsigtigt kan pege på, at interviewet kan have fremkaldt katastrofal bekymring og midlertidigt påvirket smerteskastrofering. Samlet set er fundene foreløbige og ikke konklusive, men de indikerer, at katastrofal bekymring kan være et overset aspekt i smerteskastrofering og at dette fænomen potentielt kan manipuleres; yderligere forskning med større prøver er nødvendig.
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