The impact of maternal child- and self-oriented pain-related injustice appraisals upon maternal attention to child pain, attention to anger, and pain-attending behavior

Objectives The current study investigated the role of maternal child- and self-oriented injustice appraisals about child pain in understanding maternal attention for child pain and adult anger cues and pain-attending behavior. Methods Forty-four children underwent a painful cold pressor task (CPT) while their mother observed. Eye tracking was used to measure maternal attention to child pain and adult anger cues. Initial attention allocation and attentional maintenance were indexed by probability of first fixation and gaze duration, respectively. Maternal pain-attending behaviors toward the child were videotaped and coded after CPT completion. Mothers also rated the intensity of pain and anger cues used in the free-viewing tasks. All analyses controlled for maternal catastrophizing about child pain. Results Neither child-oriented nor self-oriented injustice was associated with maternal attentional bias toward child pain. Regarding attention toward self-relevant anger cues, differential associations were observed for self- and child-oriented injustice appraisals, with maternal self-oriented injustice being associated with a greater probability of first fixating on anger and with higher anger ratings, whereas maternal child-oriented injustice was associated with enhanced attentional maintenance toward anger. Neither type of maternal injustice appraisals was associated with maternal pain-attending behavior, which was only associated with maternal catastrophizing. Conclusions The current study sheds light on potential differential mechanisms through which maternal self- vs. child-oriented injustice appraisals may exert their impact on parent and child pain-related outcomes. Theoretical implications and future directions are discussed.

Evidence for a Behaviourally Measurable Perseverance Trait in Humans

The aim was to create and study a possible behavioural measure for trait(s) in humans that reflect the ability and motivation to continue an unpleasant behaviour, i.e., behavioural perseverance or persistence (BP). We utilised six different tasks with 54 subjects to measure the possible BP trait(s): cold pressor task, hand grip endurance task, impossible anagram task, impossible verbal reasoning task, thread and needle task, and boring video task. The task performances formed two BP factors. Together, the two-factor solution is responsible for the common variance constituting 37.3% of the total variance in the performances i.e., performance times. Excluding the impossible anagram task, the performance in any given task was better explained by performances in the other tasks (i.e., “trait”, η2 range = 0.131–0.253) than by the rank order variable (“depletion”, i.e., getting tired from the previous tasks, η2 range = 0–0.096).

A Multi-Method Approach to Understand Parent Behaviors During Child Acute Pain

Parent behaviors strongly predict child responses to acute pain; less studied are the factors shaping parent behaviors. Heart rate variability (HRV) is considered a physiological correlate of emotional responding. Resting or “trait” HRV is indicative of the capacity for emotion regulation, while momentary changes or “state” HRV is reflective of current emotion regulatory efforts. This study aimed to examine: (1) parent state HRV as a contributor to parent verbal behaviors before and during child pain and (2) parent trait HRV as a moderator between parent emotional states (anxiety, catastrophizing) and parent behaviors. Children 7–12 years of age completed the cold pressor task (CPT) in the presence of a primary caregiver. Parents rated their state anxiety and catastrophizing about child pain. Parent HRV was examined at 30-second epochs at rest (“trait HRV”), before (“state HRV-warm”), and during their child’s CPT (“state HRV-cold”). Parent behaviors were video recorded and coded as coping-promoting or distress-promoting. Thirty-one parents had complete cardiac, observational, and self-report data. A small to moderate negative correlation emerged between state HRV-cold and CP behaviors during CPT. Trait HRV moderated the association between parent state catastrophizing and distress-promoting behaviors. Parents experiencing state catastrophizing were more likely to engage in distress-promoting behavior if they had low trait HRV. This novel work suggests parents who generally have a low (vs. high) HRV, reflective of low capacity for emotion regulation, may be at risk of engaging in behaviors that increase child distress when catastrophizing about their child’s pain.

That Moment Felt Like Forever: Stress Effects on Time Perception in Males

The purpose of this research was to identify if inducing acute stress in males could influence their verbal estimate of a duration of time perception. Thirty-four males between the ages of 18 and 22 years old were recruited to participate by prospectively judging intervals of time at baseline and after a water task. Using an experimental design, participants were randomly assigned to either the stressor water task of the Socially-Evaluative Cold Pressor Task (secpt; n = 16) or the control water task of the Warm Water Task (wwt; n = 18). Salivary cortisol was collected at baseline and after the assigned water task to measure changes in physiological stress, while positive and negative affect were assessed to measured changes in subjective emotion. The stressor task was effective at increasing salivary cortisol and negative affect while experiencing the secpt, but not at other time points. The group exposed to the stressor task experienced an overestimation of time when compared to the control group. A path analysis concluded that the grouping for stressor/control task was the only significant contributing factor in the variability of time perception accuracy when mediating paths for cortisol, positive affect, and negative affect. Information gained from this research is basic and may give insights into stress’s impact on the perception of time.

Painfully Cold: Effects of a Loving-Kindness Meditation on Cold Pressor Task Performance and Empathic Responses

Mindfulness meditation is sometimes taught as an adjunct to pain management techniques, but scant research has examined the mechanisms by which it works. We compared the effects of different types of meditation (i.e., mindfulness relaxation vs. loving-kindness) on pain tolerance and pain threshold, pain reactivity, self-reported pain levels, and pleasure during a cold pressor task. Furthermore, we explored how empathy levels may differ after a short-term meditation induction, since differences in empathy affect perception of pain. A sample of 71 participants was randomly assigned to receive one of two 6-minute meditation inductions before submerging their hand in ice-cold water. Results indicated no effect of condition on pain tolerance, threshold, or pain reactivity. However, participants in the loving-kindness meditation group reported greater pleasure than those in the mindfulness group. Moreover, empathy levels did not alter after induction, and did not have a significant role in pain management. Results are discussed in terms of how empathy affects pain perception and pain management.

Evidence for a behaviourally measurable perseverance trait

The aim of this exploratory study was to create a behavioural measure for trait(s) that reflect the ability and motivation to continue an unpleasant behaviour, i.e. perseverance or persistence, and to measure its correlates to several variables.We utilised six different tasks with 54 subjects to measure the perseverance-trait: cold pressor task, hand grip endurance task, impossible anagram task, impossible verbal reasoning task, thread and needle task and boring video task.According to our results, the task performances formed two perseverance factors that could be roughly described as “physical” and “mental” perseverance. Together, the two-factor solution is responsible for the common variance constituting 37.3 % of the total variance in the performances i.e. performance times. Excluding the impossible anagram task, the performance in any given task was better explained by performances in the other tasks (i.e. “trait”, η2 range = 0.131–0.253) than by rank order variable (“depletion”, i.e. getting tired from the previous tasks, η2 range = 0–0.096).HighlightsBehavioural perseverance of individuals can be measured behaviourallyBehavioural perseverance forms a two-factor structurePerseverance trait is better predictor of performance than depletion of individuals’ personal resources in a task

SUPER scale to the rescue: reconciling what parents say and what they communicate during their child’s pain

Aim: Fully illuminating mechanisms relating parent behaviors to child pain require examining both verbal and nonverbal communication. We conducted a multimethod investigation into parent nonverbal communication and physiology, and investigated the psychometric properties of the Scheme for Understanding Parent Emotive Responses Scale to assess parent nonverbals accompanying reassurance and distraction. Materials & methods: 23 children (7–12 years of age) completed the cold pressor task with their parent (predominately mothers). Parent heart rate and heart rate variability were monitored and assessed. The Scheme for Understanding Parent Emotive Responses Scale coding of parent nonverbal behaviors (i.e., vocal cues, facial expressions, posture) was used to detect levels of fear, warmth, disengagement and humor. Results & conclusion: Preliminary evidence for the psychometric properties of the scale are offered. Parent reassurance was associated with more fear, less warmth and less humor compared with distraction.

Establishing the validity of a novel passive stress task

Laboratory tasks used to elicit a cardiovascular stress response in the laboratory can involve either active or passive coping. However, in previous work, passive stress tasks often incorporate a distinct physical stress element, such as the handgrip or cold pressor task, meaning observed changes in cardiovascular parameters may be the result of the physical element of the stressor rather than truly reflecting psychological stress. The present study aimed to establish the validity of a psychological passive stressor; one more analogous to active tasks than those previously employed in laboratory studies. Twenty-six young, healthy adults completed a speech task in the laboratory following a resting baseline period. Twelve months later, they were invited back to the laboratory and watched the video recording of their speech. Analyses confirmed that while both tasks elicited significant SBP and DBP change (all ps < .001), only the active task was associated with HR and CO reactivity (both ps < .001), while only the passive task was associated with TPR reactivity (p = .028). Furthermore, the passive stressor was associated with a mixed hemodynamic profile, whereas the active stressor was associated with a clear myocardial profile. This study confirms that watching a video recording of oneself complete a speech task is associated with a more vascular response profile, a response associated with passive coping contexts.