Dispositional anxiety and the experience of pain: gender-specific effects

Increased anxiety is believed to correlate with increased pain sensitivity in men and women. However, one laboratory-based study and one clinical-based study have offered evidence to suggest that the effect of anxiety in modulating pain sensitivity is specific to men only. The aim of the present study was to examine further whether anxiety differentially effects men and women's report of experimentally induced pain.

One hundred forty-four healthy university students (75 women, 69 men) were exposed to a contact heat pain procedure (ascending method of limits procedure, baseline temperature 30 degrees C, +/- 0.2 degrees C, rate of change 2.0 degrees C/s, cut-off limit 52 degrees C) and a cold pressor pain procedure (constant temperature +1 degrees C; +/-1 degrees C, cut-off limit 240 s).

The results agreed with the previous two studies indicating a sex-specific effect of anxiety on pain report. Male participants scoring above the median on the Trait Anxiety Inventory reported significantly greater pain intensity, unpleasantness and showed lower pain tolerance compared to males scoring below the median on the cold pressor pain procedure, while no such differences in cold pressor pain report were found between high and low anxious women. No effect of anxiety was found on measures taken from the contact heat pain procedure, indicating that the sex-specific effect of anxiety on laboratory induced pain is dependent upon the method of stimulation used.

Anxiety is an important factor when considering gender differences in pain perception and warrants further investigation.