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Cited by 68Pain Management and Placebo EffectPediatric Pain Management TechniquesPain Mechanisms and Treatments

Is it better to have controlled and lost than never to have controlled at all? An experimental investigation of control over pain

Crombez, Geert, Eccleston, Christopher, De Vlieger, Petra, Van Damme, Stefaan, De Clercq, Armand·2008·Pain
DOI 10.1016/j.pain.2007.10.028
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Abstract

Trying to control pain is a common human goal. But little is know about what happens when one loses control over pain. This paper reports an experiment with 74 healthy volunteers, half of whom were given control over a pain stimulus and subsequently lost control, and half of whom never had control over the pain. This study investigates whether having had control and lost it would result in a more unpleasant pain experience, more fear about impending pain, a heightened vigilance to pain, and greater interference on a secondary task. Participants in the experimental group first learned to avoid a painful stimulus by correctly responding to a card sorting task, but later on lost control over the painful stimulus. In the yoked comparison group, participants had no control over the painful stimulus from the beginning. Results indicated that losing control over pain and, relatedly, attempting to control uncontrollable pain have significant costs such as a higher fear of the impending pain stimulus and retarded performance on a secondary task. When attempts to avoid pain are blocked, individuals persist in their avoidance attempts, try harder, and narrow their focus of attention upon the problem to be solved. These findings are discussed within the context of a dual process model of coping with uncontrollable adverse events [Brandtstädter J, Renner G. Tenacious goal pursuit and flexible goal adjustment: explication and age-related analysis of assimilative and accommodative strategies of coping. Psychol Aging 1990;5:58-67] and possible mechanisms for perseverance with ineffective solutions.

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  • The concept of a 'preferred future' when living with pain has more recently been given focus by pain researchers, as have techniques such as focusing on successes during pain consultations.

    “The concept of a ‘preferred future’ when living with pain has also more recently been given focus by pain researchers,18–20 as have techniques such as focusing on successes during pain consultations.21”

    From New approaches towards chronic pain: Patient experiences of a solution-focused pain management programme (2014) · cites this paper as [20]

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Authors
Crombez, G., Eccleston, C., De Vlieger, P., Van Damme, S., & De Clercq, A.
Affiliations
  • Ghent University (BE)
  • University of Bath (GB)
Corresponding author
Crombez, Geert
ORCID
Venue
Pain
Publisher
Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)
Published
2008-07-31
Volume
137
Issue
3
Pages
631-639
ISSN
0304-3959 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.pain.2007.10.028
OpenAlex
W2031850634
Cited by
68
References
24
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 5 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 6
FWCI
1.66
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • Pain (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pediatric Pain Management Techniques
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
Keywords
pain management, loss of control, pain unpleasantness, fear of pain, sustained attention, secondary task interference, pain avoidance, goal pursuit, perseverance, attentional narrowing
MeSH terms
Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Adult, Attention, Fear, Female, Humans, Male, Pain, Radionuclide Imaging, Stress, Psychological, Comorbidity

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