Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 13, 2026
Determining Pain Detection and Tolerance Thresholds Using an Integrated, Multi-Modal Pain Task Battery
Published on: April 14, 2016
The effects of mindfulness-based attention on cold pressor pain in children
Mark Petter1, Christine T Chambers, Jill MacLaren Chorney
1Department of Psychology, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. mark.petter@dal.ca
Insights
Mindful attention helps children focus on pain without worsening it. This approach, unlike distraction techniques, did not increase pain intensity or reduce pain tolerance in children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Psychology
- Pain Management
- Mindfulness Research
Background:
- Current acute pain interventions for children often use distraction techniques.
- Mindfulness involves nonjudgmental attention to present experience.
- The impact of mindful attention on children's acute pain is not well understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To determine if mindful attention affects children's pain intensity and tolerance.
- To compare mindful attention with guided imagery (a distraction technique).
- To investigate if coping style or trait mindfulness influence intervention effects.
Main Methods:
- 82 children (10-14 years) completed baseline coping and mindfulness assessments.
- Participants received either mindful attention or guided imagery instructions.
- Pain outcomes were measured during a cold pressor task.
Main Results:
- Mindful attention increased awareness of pain sensations and related thoughts.
- No significant differences in pain intensity or tolerance were found between groups.
- Child's baseline characteristics did not interact with the intervention conditions.
Conclusions:
- Mindful attention effectively guided children's focus to experimental pain.
- This approach did not increase pain intensity or decrease pain tolerance.
- Mindful attention is a viable strategy for managing acute pain in children.
Background:
Typical interventions for acute pain in children attempt to reduce pain by directing attention away from pain. Conversely, mindfulness involves devoting attention to one's experience in an accepting and nonjudgmental way. However, the effect that instructing children to mindfully devote attention to acute pain has on pain outcomes is unknown.
Objectives:
To examine whether mindful attention can help children attend to pain without increasing pain intensity or decreasing pain tolerance; to compare the effects of mindful attention with a well-established intervention designed to take attention away from pain (guided imagery); and to test whether baseline coping style or trait mindfulness alter the effects of these interventions.
Methods:
A total of 82 children (10 to 14 years of age) completed measures of coping style and trait mindfulness. Participants then received either mindful attention or guided imagery instructions designed to direct attention toward or away from pain, respectively, before participating in a cold pressor task.
Results:
The mindful attention group reported more awareness of the physical sensations of pain and thoughts about those sensations. Overall, there were no between-group differences in measures of pain intensity or pain tolerance during the cold pressor task, and no evidence of an interaction between baseline characteristics of the child and experimental condition.
Conclusions:
Mindful attention was successful in helping children focus attention on experimental pain without increasing pain intensity or decreasing tolerance compared with a well-established intervention for acute pain reduction.
