The pri
mary ai
m of the current study was to experi
mentally test whether pain-related fear can be acquired through observational learning, whether extinction occurs after actual exposure to the aversive sti
mulus, and whether pain-related fear was associated with increased pain ratings. During an observation phase, fe
male volunteers watched a video showing
models perfor
ming cold pressor tasks (CPT), of which the color served as a conditioned sti
mulus (CS). In a differential fear conditioning paradig
m, each of 2 colors were either paired with
models?painful (CS+) or neutral (CS? facial expressions. Exposure consisted of participants perfor
ming CPTs of both colors (10¡ãC). Self-reported fear of pain and expected pain ratings were obtained after the observation period, while actual pain and avoidance
measures were obtained during and after exposure. Results show that after observing another person perfor
ming the CPT associated with the painful faces, subjects report
more fear of pain and expect
more intense and unpleasant pain as co
mpared with the CPT associated with the neutral faces. This effect of observational learning on pain-related fear persisted until after exposure. During and after exposure no sti
mulus-type effect for pain ratings was found. This study provides preli
minary evidence for observational learning of pain-related fear in hu
mans.
Perspective
Fear of pain can be more disabling than pain itself, and is a risk factor for chronic pain. Knowledge about the acquisition of pain-related fear may help to develop novel pain management programs. This study is one of the first to demonstrate the effects of observational learning on pain-related fear.