PRIVATE BODY CONSCIOUSNESS, ANXIETY AND PAIN SYMPTOM REPORTS OF CHRONIC PAIN PATIENTS

An information processing model of pain symptom perception and reporti ng predicts that individuals prone to high levels of attentional self- focus and negative affect will report more pain than individuals low i n these characteristics. Past research on college student and medical patient samples has shown that individuals high in private body consci ousness (PBC), or attentional self-focus and who report higher levels of anxiety report more pain symptoms than counterparts low in PBC and anxiety. The present study examined effects of PBC and anxiety on pain reports of individuals suffering chronic pain (N= 144). Pain patients suffering chronic headache, low back pain, rheumatoid arthritis and f ibromyalgia were included in the sample. A non-pain control sample (N = 31) was also studied to examine potential differences between contro ls and pain patients. Results indicated that pain patients reporting h igh levels of PBC reported more pain, although the effects of anxiety on pain reports among pain patients was not significant. Controls did not differ from pain patients on PBC, nor did the 4 groups of pain pat ients differ on PBC, suggesting PBC is a dispositional variable. Impli cations for the importance of attentional self-focus in pain symptom r eporting are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights rese rved.