EFFECTS OF FREQUENCY OF PAIN REPORT ON SUBJECTIVE PAIN RATINGS OF THECOLD PRESSOR TASK

Differences in methodology among studies using the cold presser task h ave affected the level of pain reported by subjects. This study was de signed to assess the effects of varying frequency of self-report on in tensity of subjective pain ratings. in a sample of 108 subjects, signi ficant differences in pain ratings were found between subjects who rat ed their pain at 50-sec. intervals and groups who rated at lower or hi gher frequencies. Analysis indicated that the frequency of reporting p ain map influence the coping strategies used by patients with pain and should be considered carefully by researchers.