VICARIOUS PAIN RESPONSE: THE ROLES OF AVOIDANCE COPING AND PAIN CATASTROPHIZING ON AFFECTIVE DISTRESS

Abstract

Prior research has identified three groups of individuals who experience pain differently in response to observing others in pain. Sensory-localised responders (SLRs) experience sensory-type pain localised to certain body parts; affective-generalised responders (AGRs) experience affective-type pain generalised to the whole body; and non-responders do not experience pain. The present study exposed participants to vicarious pain stimuli, and investigated the differences between the three responder groups? experiences of affective distress and tendencies to cope with pain through avoidance and catastrophizing. SLRs and AGRs were hypothesised to experience similar affective distress as each other, and higher affective distress than non-responders. The type of responder group was hypothesised to predict affective distress over and above one?s tendencies to avoid and catastrophize pain. Also, avoidance and catastrophizing were hypothesised to mediate the relationship between responder group and affective distress. The results indicated no differences in affective distress between SLRs, AGRs, and non-responders. Responder group and avoidance coping did not predict affective distress. Pain catastrophizing positively predicted affective distress, but this predictive effect was lost when controlling for trait anxiety. Supplementary analyses revealed that unpleasantness was the strongest positive predictor of affective distress. Taken together, this study provides evidence for the importance of unpleasantness in the relationship between responder group and affective distress, and the importance of trait anxiety in the relationship between catastrophizing and affective distress.