ATTENTIONAL BIASES IN CHILDREN WITH CHRONIC PAIN

University Of Vermont &St Agric College, Burlington VT

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Abstract

The proposed research is designed to examine cognitive and affective mechanisms linked to pain perception and vulnerability in children, and to evaluate components of a biopsychosocial model of pediatric recurrent abdominal pain (RAP). Specifically, children with RAP and healthy children will be tested on a measure of attentional focus the dot probe detection task, for automatic cognitive biases to stimuli thematically related to pain and anxiety. Associations between attentional biases and self-report measures of pain (including intensity, frequency, and duration), somatic and pain attention, fear of pain, anxiety, and coping will be investigated. By improving upon the current understanding of the relationship between RAP, attention, and related psychological constructs, the proposed study is intended to contribute to applied and basic research in understanding cognitive and affective factors related to chronic pain.