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Autobiographical Memory and Future Thinking Specificity and Content in Chronic Pain.
Stella R Quenstedt1, Jillian N Sucher1, Kendall A Pfeffer1
1Department of Psychology, The New School for Social Research, New York, NY, United States.
Frontiers in Psychology
|January 29, 2021
Summary
Chronic pain is linked to less specific autobiographical memory and future thinking. This cognitive pattern may contribute to pain-related psychological distress and co-occurring mental health issues.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Chronic pain frequently co-occurs with mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.
- Cognitive-behavioral models highlight memory alterations in chronic pain and associated psychological distress.
- Understanding specific cognitive mechanisms is crucial for addressing chronic pain's impact.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate cognitive mechanisms, specifically autobiographical memory and future thinking, in individuals with chronic pain.
- To explore the relationship between chronic pain, memory specificity, and psychological distress.
- To examine how pain influences the content of past and future thinking.
Main Methods:
- Recruited individuals with (N=84) and without (N=102) chronic pain history via MTurk.
- Administered online surveys with standardized measures for anxiety and depression.
- Utilized sentence completion tasks to assess autobiographical memory and future thinking specificity and content.
Main Results:
- Individuals with chronic pain were more likely to recall/imagine painful events.
- Chronic pain and higher depression severity correlated with less specific autobiographical memories.
- Individuals with chronic pain generated less specific future autobiographical events and more pain-related content.
Conclusions:
- Chronic pain is associated with altered autobiographical memory and future thinking, characterized by reduced specificity and increased pain-related content.
- These cognitive alterations may play a role in the pathogenesis of psychological distress in chronic pain populations.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the etiology of these cognitive changes in chronic pain.
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