• Aline Wauters, Van RyckeghemDimitri M LDMLDepartment of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium; Department of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Luxembourg, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg; Department of Clinical Psycho, Melanie Noel, Emma Rheel, and Tine Vervoort.
• Department of Experimental-Clinical and Health Psychology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
• J Pain. 2023 Dec 1; 24 (12): 214021522140-2152.

AbstractThe current study investigated the influence of children's ability to flexibly shift attention toward and away from pain information on the development of negatively biased pain memories, thereby employing a direct measure of attention control reliant on behavioral responses in the context of pain (ie, an attention switching task). The direct influence of children's attention-shifting ability and pain catastrophizing as well as the moderating role of this shifting ability in the relationship between pain catastrophizing and the development of negatively biased pain memories was examined. Healthy school children (N = 41; 9-15 years old) received painful heat stimuli and completed measures of state and trait pain catastrophizing. They then performed an attention-switching task wherein they had to shift attention between personally relevant pain-related and neutral cues. Two weeks after the painful task, children's pain-related memories were elicited via telephone. Findings indicated that children's reduced ability to disengage attention away from pain information predicted more fear memory bias 2 weeks later. Children's pain-related attention-shifting ability did not moderate the relationship between children's pain catastrophizing and negatively biased pain memories. Findings highlight the contribution of children's attention control skills in the development of negatively biased pain memories. PERSPECTIVE: Results of the current study indicate that children with a reduced ability to shift attention away from pain information are at risk for developing negatively biased pain memories. Findings can inform interventions to minimize the development of these maladaptive negatively biased pain memories by targeting pain-relevant attention control skills in children.Copyright © 2023 United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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