This Article Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Ohrbach, R. Articles by Dworkin, S.F. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Ohrbach, R. Articles by Dworkin, S.F. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Psychophysiological Assessment of Stress in Chronic Pain: Comparisons of Stressful Stimuli and of Response Systems

Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences, 355 Squire

J. Blascovich

Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 14214

E.N. Gale

Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences, 355 Squire

W.D. McCall, Jr

Department of Oral Diagnostic Sciences, 355 Squire

S.F. Dworkin

Departments of Oral Medicine and Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle

Due to disparate findings across the published studies, the stress-hyperactivity hypothesis has never been fully accepted as a causal mechanism for chronic muscle pain. Two recent comprehensive reviews of the psychophysiological studies of chronic pain came to opposite conclusions about the viability of the hypothesis, which stemmed from differing importance placed on the experimental methodology: the adequacy of stress manipulation. The present study tested the hypotheses that the adequacy of stress manipulation is influenced by stress stimuli type, degree of personal relevance, and selection of criterion for verification of stress experience, and that these factors have a measurable impact on the related physiological responses in a manner that is consistent with a theory of stress applicable to clinical stress disorders. The three factors investigated were: task (imagery, reaction time), relevance (high, low), and manipulation criterion (autonomic, self-report). The tasks were presented to 16 chronic pain patients while muscle, electrodermal, and self-report responses were recorded. Reaction-time tasks and high-relevance conditions led to high muscle and electrodermal responses. Only the high-relevance imagery, however, produced high self-reported distress. Consistent with other research, the present overall data demonstrated differing physiological profiles for different stimuli types. More importantly, these data suggest that the manipulation type and the manipulation criterion influence outcomes of experimental tests of stress on physiological systems, which may directly lead to contrasting conclusions about causal relations between stress and chronic pain conditions.

Key Words: pain • stress • hyperactivity • methodology • imagery.

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 77, No. 10, 1840-1850 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/00220345980770101201


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. J. Sherman, L. LeResche, K. H. Huggins, L. A. Mancl, J. C. Sage, and S. F. Dworkin The Relationship of Somatization and Depression to Experimental Pain Response in Women With Temporomandibular Disorders Psychosom Med, November 1, 2004; 66(6): 852 - 860. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]