Placebo and nocebo effects in youth: subjective thermal discomfort can be modulated by a conditioning paradigm utilizing mental states of low and high self-efficacy.
Br J Pain
; 16(1): 60-70, 2022 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-35111315
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
Conditioning is a key mechanism of placebo and nocebo effects in adults, but little is known about these effects in youth. This study investigated whether personalized verbal cues evoking a sense of high or low self-efficacy can induce conditioned placebo and nocebo effects on subjective discomfort of noxious heat in youth.METHODS:
In a structured interview, 26 adolescents (13-18 years) described personal situations in which they experienced a sense of high, low or neutral self-efficacy. Participants were then asked to recall these memories during a conditioning paradigm, in which a high thermal stimulus applied to the forearm was repeatedly paired with a low self-efficacy cue and a low thermal stimulus with a high self-efficacy cue. In a testing phase, high, low and neutral self-efficacy cues were paired with the same moderate temperature. We hypothesized that conditioned high and low self-efficacy cues would induce conditioned placebo and nocebo responses to moderate temperatures.RESULTS:
Moderate temperatures were rated as more uncomfortable when paired with the conditioned low compared with the neutral self-efficacy cue (nocebo effect). While in the whole-group analysis, there was no significant difference between ratings of moderate thermal stimuli paired with high compared with neutral self-efficacy cues (placebo effect), a sub-group of participants with a greater range of emotional valence between high and neutral self-efficacy cues revealed a significant placebo effect. The strength of the nocebo effect was associated with higher anxiety and lower hope.CONCLUSION:
Conditioned associations using internal self-efficacy states can change subjective discomfort of thermal sensations.
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
/
Qualitative_research
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Br J Pain
Ano de publicação:
2022
Tipo de documento:
Article