PROCEDURAL CONTROL

EFFECT ON ANTICIPATORY AND POST-STIMULUS ANXIETY AND PAIN

RESPONSES

Lynn WhiteJamie Moon

PURPOSE

• Procedural control

• Anticipatory Responses

• Post-stimulus Responses

• Subjective vs. objective responses

PREVIOUS RESEARCH

• Real and Perceived control

• Arntz & Schmidt (1989).

• Procedural control of painful electric shock

• Wiech et al. (2006)

• Procedural control of painful stimulus application

• Muller (2012)

THE PRESENT STUDY’S NICHE

• Used a painful stimulus that is less artificial

• Measured both subjective and objective responses

• Looked at the effect of procedural control on pain during the anticipatory period AND the post-needle prick period

METHODS

Participants

• 60 total• 20 men & 40 women M = 20.28, S = 2.62

• Undergraduates• Compensation & course credit

Materials

• Biopack MP36, BSL pro software• Sure Comfort Lancets• Alcohol wipes, medical tape, gloves, Band-Aids and Cotton balls.

Procedure

• Informed consent• Hook up to biofeedback• Baseline• Anticipatory• Questionnaire• Stimulus• Post Stimulus• Questionnaire

baseline

anticipatory

post

2 way mixed ANOVAshowed a significantmain effect of timeF(1.21,70.22)=116.64, p=.000, partial eta squared = .668

Skin conductance increased significantlyfrom baseline to theanticipatory period tothe post-stimulus period

All other effects were n.s.

base

...

antic

i...

post

-s...

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101214161820

Skin Conductance Before and After Noxious Stimulation

PC

NPC

mea

n S

C (

mic

rose

imen

s)

2 way mixed ANOVAshowed no significantmain effect of time,procedural control, or Interaction effect.

Perceived pain intensitywas unaffected by timeor procedural control.

1 22.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

Pain Intensity Before and After Noxious Stimulation

PC

NPC

mea

n p

ain

in

ten

sity

sco

re

anticipatory post-stimulus

2 way mixed ANOVAshowed no significantmain effect of time,procedural control, or Interaction effect.

Perceived unpleasantnesswas unaffected by timeor procedural control.

1 22.3

2.4

2.5

2.6

2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

Unpleasantness Before and After Noxious Stimulation

PC

NPC

mea

n u

np

leas

antn

ess

scor

e

anticipatory post-stimulus

2 way mixed ANOVAshowed a significantmain effect of timeF(1,58)=26.49, p=.000, partial eta squared= .314

Anxiety levels decreasedsignificantly from theanticipatory period tothe post-stimulus period

All other effects were n.s.

anticipatory post-stimulus0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

Anxiety Before and After Nox-ious Stimulation

PC

NPC

mea

n a

nxi

ety

scor

e

CONCLUSIONSSkin

conductance

• Skin conductance levels increased over time

Pain• Pain levels

were not affected

Unpleasantness

• Unpleasantness levels were not affected

Anxiety

• Anxiety levels decreased over time

No effect of procedural control?

QUESTIONS?