American Pain Society's 27th Annual Scientific Meeting (May 8 – 10, 2008): Personality correlates of pain and nociceptive sensitivity: The Control subscale of the constraint trait
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8204 Personality correlates of pain and nociceptive sensitivity: The Control subscale of the constraint trait

May 9, 2008: May 9, 2008
East Hall (Tampa Convention Center)
Mary C. Chandler , Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Emily J. Bartley , Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Carl Lattimore , Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Jennifer L. Russell, BA , Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Amy E. Williams, MA , Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Klanci M. McCabe , Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Jamie L. Rhudy , Department of Psychology, The University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Constraint is a personality trait associated with harm avoidance, high moral standards, and level-headedness; and persons who score high on the Control subscale of Constraint are described as reflective, cautious, careful, and planning. This study assessed the influence of Control on behavioral, physiological, and subjective pain outcomes (electrodermal pain threshold & pain tolerance, nociceptive flexion reflex [NFR] threshold, subjective pain report) in 30 participants. Electric stimuli were delivered over the sural nerve, and after each stimulus participants rated their subjective reaction on a 0 (no sensation) to 100 (maximum tolerable) scale, with pain anchored at 50. First, 3 ascending-descending series of stimuli were delivered to assess NFR threshold, a physiological correlate of spinal nociceptive threshold. After a short break, a fourth ascending series was delivered until tolerance was reached (rating = 100 or 40 mA max reached). In the last ascending series, pain threshold was defined as the stimulus that was first rated ≥50. After pain tolerance was reached, participants rated their sensory and affective pain in response to testing on the McGill Pain Questionnaire-short form, and filled out the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire to assess Control and social desirability. All procedures were IRB approved. Results suggest Control was positively associated with NFR threshold (r=.38, p=.06) and pain tolerance (r=.45, p=.02), and negatively associated with the subjective ratings of stimuli at NFR threshold (r=-.33, p=.08). When social desirability was controlled using partial correlations, these relationships remained, and a positive correlation with pain threshold was observed (r=.38, p=.05). These data suggest greater Control is associated with reduced pain sensitivity, an effect that is not simply due to social desirability. Furthermore, this relationship may stem from descending modulation, because Control was correlated with NFR threshold. This work was supported by the Oklahoma Center for the Advancement of Science and Technology.
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