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Updated: Dec 9, 2025
Author Spotlight: Methodologies and Advancements of Chronic Pain Management Research
Published on: January 5, 2024
Episodic future thinking reduces chronic pain severity: A proof of concept study
William H Craft1, Allison N Tegge2, Warren K Bickel3
1Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors, 1 Riverside Circle, Roanoke, VA 24016, United States; Graduate Program in Translational Biology, Medicine, and Health, Virginia Tech, 1 Riverside Circle, Roanoke, VA 24016, United States; Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, 2 Riverside Circle, Roanoke, VA 24016, United States.
Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) reduced chronic pain and delay discounting in a study of 250 individuals. This novel therapeutic approach may help widen the temporal window for valuing rewards, thereby alleviating pain.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Behavioral Science
- Pain Management
Background:
- Chronic pain is a significant global health issue with limited effective treatments.
- Current therapies like opioids have side effects, and cognitive behavioral therapy has limited efficacy.
- Chronic pain is linked to unhealthy behaviors and a constricted temporal window of reward valuation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) on delay discounting and pain levels in individuals with chronic pain.
- To explore EFT as a potential therapeutic intervention for chronic pain management.
Main Methods:
- 250 individuals with chronic pain were recruited via Amazon Mechanical Turk.
- Measures of delay discounting and pain were collected at baseline and after randomization to EFT or Control Episodic Thinking (CET).
Main Results:
- EFT significantly reduced delay discounting compared to baseline (p < 0.001).
- EFT led to a significant reduction in pain scores compared to CET (p = 0.001), particularly in individuals with higher baseline pain.
- The reduction in delay discounting fully mediated the observed pain reduction.
Conclusions:
- Episodic Future Thinking shows promise as a novel therapeutic for chronic pain.
- EFT may alleviate chronic pain by widening the temporal window of reward valuation.
