The DOI matches its Crossref record; 43 of the 44 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
How do placebo effects contribute to mindfulness-based analgesia? Probing acute pain effects and interactions using a randomized balanced placebo design
Abstract
ABSTRACT: Recent sham-controlled studies suggest placebo effects contribute to acute pain relief after mindfulness interventions. However, the specific effects of mindfulness processes and their interaction with placebo effects remain unclear. This study aimed to characterize the role of mindfulness and placebo processes underlying mindfulness-based pain attenuation. Both treatment (focused attention mindfulness vs sham) and instruction (told mindfulness vs told sham) were manipulated in a balanced placebo design. Changes in acute heat pain were evaluated in 153 healthy adults randomized to receive 6 × 20 minutes of 1 of 4 treatment by instruction interventions or no treatment. Participants receiving any intervention demonstrated improved pain outcomes (unpleasantness, intensity, and tolerance) relative to those receiving no treatment. The instruction manipulation increased expectation for pain relief in those told mindfulness relative to those told sham, but there were no main effects or interactions of treatment or instruction on pain outcomes. However, irrespective of actual intervention received, the belief of receiving mindfulness predicted increased pain threshold and tolerance, with expectancy fully mediating the effect on pain tolerance. These findings suggest a lack of specific effects of mindfulness and instruction on acute pain. Nonetheless, participants' expectancies and beliefs about the treatment they received did predict pain relief. Together with the overall improvement after any intervention, these findings suggest that expectancy and belief may play a stronger role in attenuating acute pain in novices following brief mindfulness interventions than the actual mindfulness-specific processes or instructions delivered.
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In the citing paper
“Results showed that, while any active treatment resulted in better outcomes compared to no treatment, no significant interaction as well as no main effect of either focused-attention mindfulness or expectation induction on pain was found.”
From Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations (2024) · cites this paper as Davies et al., 2022
In the citing paper
“They did find a significant main effect of mindfulness on anxiety.”
From Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations (2024) · cites this paper as Davies et al., 2022
In the citing paper
“To date, one other study has used a balanced placebo design to examine the effects of six 20-minute sessions of mindfulness (i.e., focused-attention mindfulness vs sham) and induced expectations (i.e., told mindfulness vs told sham) on pain and as well as anxiety as a secondary outcome measure (Davies et al., 2022).”
From Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations (2024) · cites this paper as Davies et al., 2022
In the citing paper
“This may explain why Davies et al. (2022) also found that, while there were no main effects of mindfulness or expectation induction on pain, receiving any treatment was always better than no treatment at all.”
From Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations (2024) · cites this paper as Davies et al., 2022
In the citing paper
“Results showed that, while any active treatment resulted in better outcomes compared to no treatment, no significant interaction as well as no main effect of either focused-attention mindfulness or expectation induction on pain was found.”
From Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations (2024) · cites this paper as Davies et al., 2022
In the citing paper
“They also included a no treatment control group.”
From Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations (2024) · cites this paper as Davies et al., 2022
In the citing paper
“Similarly, Davies et al. (2022) found that a participant's a-priori conviction that the intervention was mindfulness predicted the effectiveness of the intervention, independently of what intervention was actually used.”
From Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations (2024) · cites this paper as Davies et al., 2022
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Research in Mindfulness Interventions for Patients With Fibromyalgia: A Critical Review
Leça, S., & Tavares, I. (2022) · Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience · doi:10.3389/fnint.2022.920271 · Cited by 29
Sharpe, L., Jones, E. B., Pradhan, P., Todd, J., & Colagiuri, B. (2022) · Pain · doi:10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002784 · Cited by 23
A synthesis of meta-analyses of mindfulness-based interventions in pain
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Self-citationFan, C., Wu, M., Liu, H., Chen, X., Zhen, G., Zhao, X., Zhou, J., & Jiang, Z. (2024) · Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2024.105735 · Cited by 10
Podcasts in Mental, Physical, or Combined Health Interventions for Adults: Scoping Review
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Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment Expectations
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Pain, mindfulness, and placebo: a systematic review
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Mindfulness Effects on Anxiety: Disentangling the Role of Decentering and Treatment ExpectationsPreprint
Bos, D. P. A., Keesman, M., Roggeveen, A., Vase, L., Evers, A. W. M., & Peerdeman, K. J. (2022) · doi:10.31234/osf.io/z6jvq
A Brief Mindfulness Intervention for Pain Management in Fibromyalgia: A Single-arm Open-Label Study
Ramasawmy, P., Heim, L. C., Fechner, E., Schumann, S. E., Mai, T. T., Moschner, O., Jiang, Y., Guo, X., Lesani, A., Petzke, F. W., et al. (2026) · Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience · doi:10.1177/09226028251410014
Takefuji, Y. (2026) · Advances in Integrative Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.aimed.2026.100657
Metadata
- Authors
- Davies, J. N., Sharpe, L., Day, M. A., & Colagiuri, B.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- The University of Queensland (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Davies, Jonathan N.
- Venue
- Pain
- Published
- 2022-01-25
- Volume
- 163
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1967-1977
- ISSN
- 0304-3959 (ISSN-L)
- 1872-6623
- OpenAlex
- W4210571365
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 44
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4
- FWCI
- 1.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Pain (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Pain Management and Placebo Effect
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology (medical) › Pain Mechanisms and Treatments
- Keywords
- placebo effect, acute pain, sham treatment, pain anticipation, pain tolerance, pain threshold, pain unpleasantness, treatment beliefs, brief mindfulness intervention
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Analgesia, Humans, Pain Measurement, Placebo Effect, Acute Pain, Mindfulness
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