Does an initial brief experience of focussed-attention mindfulness meditation influence acute pain tolerance?
Item
- Title
- Does an initial brief experience of focussed-attention mindfulness meditation influence acute pain tolerance?
- Author(s)
- Jones, Yasmin
- Abstract
- BackgroundDespite research showing that mindfulness meditation (MM) practice can have analgesic-like effects for individuals with chronic pain, there is little research concerning the potential usefulness of MM in the management of acute pain. Further, the scientific evidence supporting the use of MM as an acute pain intervention remains ambiguous. As pain is influenced by psychological factors, it is worth exploring the use of MM in the treatment of acute pain. ObjectiveThe present study aimed to explore whether an initial brief attempt of focussed-attention MM practice had analgesic-like effects on acute nociceptive pain. It was hypothesised that MM practice would increase pain tolerance. MethodsIn this simple 2 condition crossover study, 34 participants ranging from 19 to 34 years of age took part once in an ‘intervention’ sample, and once in a no-intervention ‘control’ sample, with a one week wash-out period. Acute pain was induced via the cold pressor test (CPT). The ‘intervention’ sample partook in the CPT following a 3-minute focussed-attention MM task, which was continued during the CPT. MM task instructions were provided via an audio-recording. The outcome measure used was pain tolerance. ResultsPain tolerance times were statistically significantly longer for participants in the ‘intervention’ sample, when compared to participants in the ‘control’ sample (p=0.01). ConclusionThe results of this study suggest that focussed-attention MM practice may act as a method of analgesia for pain induced by the CPT. This study also found that MM practice instructions provided by an audio-recording are efficacious in increasing pain tolerance for CPT-induced pain.
- presented at
- British College of Osteopathic Medicine
- Date Accepted
- 2017
- Date Submitted
- 12.11.2018 14:51:53
- Type
- osteo_thesis
- Language
- English
- Number of pages
- 39
- Submitted by:
- 4457
- Pub-Identifier
- 16242
- Inst-Identifier
- 1076
- Keywords
- Acute pain, Cold pressor, Mindfulness meditation, Pain experience
- Recommended
- 0
- Item sets
- Thesis
Jones, Yasmin, “Does an initial brief experience of focussed-attention mindfulness meditation influence acute pain tolerance?”, Osteopathic Research Web, accessed May 24, 2025, https://www.osteopathic-research.com/s/orw/item/1984