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Acceptance-Based Emotion Regulation Reduces Subjective and Physiological Pain Responses
Valentina Haspert1, Matthias J Wieser1,2, Paul Pauli1,3
1Department of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Frontiers in Psychology
|July 23, 2020
Summary
Acceptance-based pain regulation effectively reduced pain intensity and unpleasantness. This approach also lowered heart rate, demonstrating its potential for pain management.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Neuroscience
- Pain Management
Background:
- Acceptance-based pain regulation shows promise but yields inconsistent results.
- Previous studies often lack robust control conditions and focus on behavioral, not physiological, pain measures.
- Within-subject designs are needed to accurately assess the efficacy of acceptance strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effectiveness of acceptance-based strategies in reducing subjective and physiological markers of acute pain.
- To compare acceptance strategies against a control condition using a within-subject design.
- To assess the impact of acceptance on pain intensity, unpleasantness, heart rate, and skin conductance.
Main Methods:
- Thirty participants underwent 24 trials of 10-second heat pain stimulation.
- Trials involved either welcoming pain (acceptance) or reacting without regulation (control).
- Subjective pain ratings, heart rate (HR), and skin conductance (SC) were recorded.
Main Results:
- Acceptance trials showed significantly lower pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings compared to control trials.
- Heart rate (HR) was significantly reduced during acceptance trials.
- Skin conductance (SC) did not show significant differences between conditions.
Conclusions:
- Acceptance-based strategies effectively reduce subjective and physiological pain responses relative to a control condition.
- These findings highlight the potential of acceptance for pain modulation, even after brief training.
- Further research into acceptance for various pain types and patient populations is warranted.
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