Interpreting ambiguous health and bodily threat: are individual differences in pain-related vulnerability constructs associated with an on-line negative interpretation bias?

J Behav Ther Exp Psychiatry. 2009 Mar;40(1):59-69. doi: 10.1016/j.jbtep.2008.03.004. Epub 2008 Apr 20.

Abstract

The present study examined the association between pain-related anxiety and an on-line interpretation bias for putative physical health threat. Healthy volunteers (n=80) completed measures on Anxiety Sensitivity, Injury/illness Sensitivity, Fear of Pain and Pain Catastrophizing. Furthermore, they performed an interpretation task, in which spontaneous (on-line) inferences were indirectly assessed from reaction times and accuracy of a lexical decision to the final word of an ambiguous description. Results demonstrated a general facilitation of responses to final words that endorsed a health-threatening resolution of ambiguity (e.g., illness). This effect correlated positively with individual levels of Fear of Pain, but was found to be unrelated to levels of Anxiety Sensitivity, Injury/illness Sensitivity or Pain Catastrophizing. Implications of the findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Anxiety / etiology
  • Anxiety / psychology*
  • Bias*
  • Fear
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Individuality*
  • Middle Aged
  • Pain / complications
  • Pain / psychology*
  • Pain Measurement
  • Sensation*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Surveys and Questionnaires
  • Task Performance and Analysis
  • Young Adult