The relation between catastrophizing and the communication of pain experience

Abstract

The Communal Coping Model of pain catastrophizing proposes that pain catastrophizers enact pain behaviors in order to solicit support or empathy from their social environment. By this account, pain catastrophizers might be expected to engage in behavior aimed at maximizing the probability that their pain will be perceived by others in their social environment. To test this prediction, 40 undergraduates were videotaped during a cold pressor procedure. A separate sample of 20 (10 men, 10 women) undergraduates were asked to view the video sequences and infer the pain ratings of the cold pressor participants. Correlational analyses revealed that higher levels of pain catastrophizing of the cold pressor participants were associated with observer inferences of more intense pain, r=.39, p<.01. The relation between cold pressor participants' level of pain catastrophizing and observer inferences of pain intensity was mediated by the cold pressor participants' pain behavior. Although pain catastrophizing was associated with observers' inferences of more intense pain, cold pressor participants' level of pain catastrophizing was not associated with observers' accuracy in inferring self-reported pain. Implications of the findings for theory and clinical practice are addressed.

Parental Responses to Pain in High Catastrophizing Children: The Moderating Effect of Child Attachment

“…Previous studies, both in adults and children 46,53 , have already shown that high catastrophizing individuals engage in higher levels of pain expression compared to low catastrophizers. To the extent that heightened pain expression in children elicits positive parental responses, this may be conceived of as an adaptive orientation.…”

“…Recent conceptualisations of pain catastrophizing as a communal coping strategy 47 have also focussed on the interpersonal nature of this construct. Specifically, studies in adults and children have revealed that high catastrophizers' appraisals of pain as extremely threatening and difficult to cope with may elicit attempts to seek support from others, for instance by overt and heightened display of their pain 46,47,53 . In particular emotional support, which is assumed to have most impact upon alteration of threat appraisals 56 , might be preferred 29 .…”

Child's and Parents' Catastrophizing about Pain is Associated with Procedural Fear in Children: A Study in Children with Diabetes and Their Mothers

“…In particular, previous evidence in school children and children with chronic pain has shown that those who highly catastrophize about pain engage in higher levels of pain expression Sullivan, Martel, Savard, & Crombez, 2006a;Vervoort et al, 2008;Vervoort et al, in press b). Accordingly, it is possible that, within the present study, children who reported higher levels of catastrophizing also showed more pain in presence of their parent.…”

“…parents) who engage in high catastrophizing about someone else's (e.g. child's) pain will also be more attentive to the pain signals and pain cues of others (Sullivan, Martel, Tripp, Savard, & Crombez, 2006b, Van Damme, Crombez, & Lorenz, 2007c Vervoort et al, in press a), will become more distressed and fearful about the other's (Sullivan et al, 2006a;Vervoort et al, 2009), and may lead to enhanced social responses ranging from solicitous ones to the provision of negative responses to the sufferer's pain (Cano, 2004;. Both types of responses, however, are expected to maintain or increase the child's catastrophizing by reinforcing catastrophizing of the child, respectively further adding to the aversiveness of catastrophizers' pain experience (McCracken, 2005, Sullivan et al, 2001.…”

Mothers’ and fathers’ responses to their child’s pain moderate the relationship between the child’s pain catastrophizing and disability☆

“…Specifically, previous studies suggest that catastrophizing may be associated with discouraging responses as well [4; 19; 47]. As increased pain expression may be the vehicle through which catastrophizing impacts upon others [39,41,44,46], this raises questions about the expression of pain by individuals who highly catastrophize about pain and how this affects others. For parents, it is likely that facing their child in pain may initially elicit positive attention or care.…”