| dc.description | This paper describes the development and investigation of an attentional model of catastrophizing and perceived pain intensity. According to this model, catastrophizers have a propensity to direct their attentional focus toward their pain during aversive stimulation. The increase in attention to pain results in an increase in perceived pain intensity. The central assertion of this model is that the relation between catastrophizing and pain is mediated by an attentional process. In Study 1, catastrophizing was unrelated to the degree of selective attentional focus to pain-related stimuli prior to cold pressor stimulation, although catastrophizing was significantly correlated with subjects' estimates of the percentage of time that they attended to their pain during cold pressor stimulation. In Study 2, catastrophizing was significantly correlated with the degree of attentional focus to pain-related and social-threat related stimuli during cold pressor stimulation. The degree of attentional focus to pain-related stimuli was significantly correlated with reported pain intensity. In Study 3, catastrophizers who were provided with a distraction task reported less pain than catastrophizers who were not provided with a task. Further, catastrophizers who were provided with a distraction task did not differ from non-catastrophizers in reported pain. There was also evidence suggesting that catastrophizers focused on the threatening and emotional value of painful sensations, while non-catastrophizers focused on the concrete sensory aspects of painful sensations during pain. The results of this research are discussed within the context of an attentional model of catastrophizing and pain. | en_US |
