Childhood adversities and laboratory pain perception

Abstract

Childhood adversity has frequently been related to a wide range of psychosomatic complaints in adulthood. The present study examined the relationship between different forms of childhood adversity and laboratory measures of pain. Heat pain tolerance and perceived heat pain intensity were measured in a community-based sample of 62 women (aged 20–64 years). Participants completed the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), which assesses five forms of childhood adversity: physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, and emotional neglect. Somatic symptoms, depressive symptoms, and pain catastrophizing were assessed as potential mediators. Bivariate analyses indicated that emotional abuse but no other forms of childhood adversity were significantly related to decreased heat pain tolerance (r=−0.27; P<0.05). Accordingly, multiple regression analyses revealed that only emotional abuse was a significant predictor of heat pain tolerance (β=−0.62; P=0.034) when entering all CTQ subscales simultaneously. Although emotional abuse was also related to somatic symptoms, depressive symptoms, and pain catastrophizing, none of these variables mediated the relationship between childhood adversity and laboratory pain (P>0.1). No significant associations were found between any forms of childhood adversity and heat pain intensity. Our findings indicate that the severity of emotional childhood abuse is associated with decreased pain tolerance, an affective component of pain, but not with heat pain intensity, which has been described as a sensory component of pain.

The association of adverse childhood experiences and of resilience with chronic noncancer pain in the German adult population – A cross‐sectional survey

“…No ACE was associated with heat pain intensity (Pieritz, Rief & Euteneuer, 2015). We found no statistically significant effect of resilience on any type of CNCP and on disabling CNCP respectively in multivariate analysis.…”

Affective touch experiences across the lifespan: Development of the Tactile Biography questionnaire and the mediating role of attachment style

“…Research has previously shown that childhood trauma, in terms of emotional or physical abuse, is related to chronic pain [ 19 , 20 ]. In particular, laboratory research on pain perception has suggested that traumatic experiences in childhood are associated in particular with the affective, but not sensory, components of pain [ 21 ]. Though of paramount importance, the specific association between interpersonal touch experiences valued as negative and affective touch, still needs to be addressed.…”

Is the relationship between child abuse and suicide attempts mediated by nonsuicidal self‐injury and pain tolerance?

“…All these methods are quite different from the pain induced with the used pressure algometer.Hence, further methods should be taken into account for the assessment of pain tolerance in future research. A further explanatory approach could be that the experience of adversities such as child abuse does not lead to the assumed habituation but rather to an increased sensitivity to painful events, due to neurobiological alterations(Pieritz, Rief, & Euteneuer, 2015) Pieritz et al (2015). found a negative relationship of emotional abuse with heat pain tolerance in a population-based sample of women.…”