Citation

Gallant NL, Hadjistavropoulos T. J. Pain 2017; 18(4): 456-467.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology and Centre on Aging and Health, University of Regina, Regina, SK, Canada. Electronic address: Thomas.Hadjistavropoulos@uregina.ca.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jpain.2016.12.009

PMID

28062310

Abstract

The role of various forms of social support (including the mere presence of another person) in pain has been studied in children and younger adults, but parallel studies involving older persons have not been conducted. In this investigation, older adults (N =100) took part in a series of experimental pain tasks in each of the following conditions: alone, in the presence of a stranger, and in the presence of a family member. Indices of pain (threshold, tolerance, intensity, unpleasantness, facial expressions) and facial expressions of emotion were analyzed. Facial expressions of pain and happiness were more prominent when a family member was present. In the presence of a stranger, pain was reported as less unpleasant and facial expressions of fear were more frequent. In examining sex differences, males reported higher pain tolerance and females displayed more prominent facial expressions of pain. Moreover, facial expressions of neutral states and happiness were more frequent among females, whereas facial expressions of anger were more frequent among males.

RESULTS demonstrate that the presence of others influences the experience and expression of pain in older persons. PERSPECTIVE: We demonstrated that the presence of others influences the experience and expression of pain in older adults. The presence of a family member increases non-verbal pain expressiveness while the presence of a stranger results in decreased self-reported pain unpleasantness.

Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Language: en