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Individual and Gender Differences in Subjective and Objective Indices of Pain: Gender, Fear of Pain, Pain Catastrophizing and Cardiovascular Reactivity

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Abstract

According to fear-avoidance models of pain perception, heightened fear of pain may increase disruptive effects of pain; however, the extent to which this affects self-reported pain severity versus physiological indices of pain is not well delineated. The current study examined self-report measures and physiological indices of pain during a cold pressor (CP) task. Individual differences in fear of pain and pain catastrophizing were also assessed via questionnaire. The primary aim of the current study was to examine the extent to which individual differences associated with fear and catastrophizing in response to pain influences subjective and physiological measures of pain. A secondary aim was to examine gender differences associated with response to pain. Average subjective pain ratings were higher for females than males. In contrast, males exhibited higher systolic and diastolic reactivity in response to the CP task relative to females, as well as failure to fully recover to baseline levels. Follow-up correlational analyses revealed that subjective pain ratings were positively associated with fear of pain in both sexes, but were not associated with cardiovascular indices. These results suggest that fear of pain and pain catastrophizing do not influence cardiovascular responses to induced pain. Further research is necessary in order to determine whether these gender differences in blood pressure and heart rate response profiles are due to biological or psychosocial influences. Results support the notion that fear of pain increases subjective pain ratings, but does not influence cardiovascular responses during CP pain-induction.

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Acknowledgments

The authors gratefully acknowledge Alison Hoover, Megan Purser, Daniel Romanausky, Sarah Sherman and Katie Sicking for their assistance with data collection and preparation of experimental materials.

Conflict of interest

All authors declare that no conflicts of interest exist related to the current study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Texas State University, 601 University Dr., San Marcos, TX, 78666, USA

    Joseph Etherton, Marci Lawson & Reiko Graham

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  1. Joseph Etherton
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  2. Marci Lawson
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  3. Reiko Graham
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Correspondence to Joseph Etherton.

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Etherton, J., Lawson, M. & Graham, R. Individual and Gender Differences in Subjective and Objective Indices of Pain: Gender, Fear of Pain, Pain Catastrophizing and Cardiovascular Reactivity. Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback 39, 89–97 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10484-014-9245-x

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