Abstract:
The primary aim of this secondary data analysis was to examine the relation between pain catastrophizing and threat/harm appraisals and to determine if either construct uniquely predicts pain responsivity. An ancillary aim was to replicate race and sex differences in pain catastrophizing, threat/harm appraisals, and pain responsivity that have been previously found in the literature (Dixon, Thorn, & Ward, 2004; Osman, Barrios, Gutierrez, Kopper, Merrifield, & Grittmann, 2000). Analyses were performed on a dataset collected from 93 undergraduate students at the University of Alabama who completed the cold pressor task, an experimental pain manipulation, and then responded to the Composite Catastrophizing Measure (Clements, 2006). Statistical procedures included multivariate regression and two-way between-subjects analysis of variance. Together, pain catastrophizing and threat/harm appraisals predicted a small percent of the variance in pain intensity, but neither variable had any independent predictive ability. For tolerance, the combined model also predicted a small percent of variability. Here, pain catastrophizing and threat/harm appraisals each uniquely predicted tolerance times, although pain catastrophizing explained slightly more variance. No significant results were found in regards to this study's hypotheses surrounding race and sex differences in pain responsivity, catastrophizing, and threat/harm appraisals; this may be due to the small sample size and unequal cells. Findings from this study suggest that pain catastrophizing and threat/harm appraisals, while closely related, tap into unique aspects of pain-related maladaptive cognitions.
