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Could Self-distancing Alter the Perception of Experimental Pain?

NCT05511857 · Status: UNKNOWN · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 292

Last updated 2022-09-19

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Physical pain leads to a narrow, egocentric focus on the self, in the here and now, particularly when experienced at high intensity levels. When long-term pains are experienced, this narrow focus could be debilitating, since attention to the pain itself may increase its perceived intensity and it could increase negative emotional processes that further contribute to pain-related suffering. One way of overcoming this could be by adopting a more distant view of oneself and the pain, thereby making the pain more abstract. An established way of creating distance is by reflecting on the self, using one's own name and second or third-person singular pronouns, so called third-person self-talk. Earlier research has reported that a psychologically distant perspective could reduce emotional distress when reflecting on negative experiences, reduce feelings of anger after provocation and to lower blood pressure. Self-distancing should thus help people mentally reconstrue their pain experience and possibly make the pain signals less cognitively salient. In this experimental study, healthy participants will be induced with pain while performing different tasks.

Conditions

  • Pain, Experimental

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Self-distancing, third-person self-talk.

The participants will engage in self-distancing, third-person self-talk.

BEHAVIORAL

Self-immersed, first-person self-talk.

The participants will engage in self-immersed, first-person self-talk.

BEHAVIORAL

Distraction

The participants will engage in a distraction task.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Linnaeus University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Helena Gunnarsson, PhD · Linnaeus University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2022-09-07
Primary Completion
2024-06-09
Completion
2024-06-09

Countries

  • Sweden

Study Locations

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT05511857 on ClinicalTrials.gov