Date of Award

2011

Degree Name

Psychology

College

College of Liberal Arts

Type of Degree

Psy.D.

Document Type

Dissertation

First Advisor

Marc Lindberg

Second Advisor

Marianna Footo-Linz

Third Advisor

Daniel McNeil

Abstract

Pain is a primary concern in health care. Considering the limitations of pharmacological interventions, identifying the effectiveness of alternative pain management is crucial. Utilizing a pre-post design, different psychological approaches to acute pain management were tested. Participants included 85 college females who were randomly assigned to one of four conditions (Long Lamaze, Brief Lamaze, Acceptance of pain, and a Control group). Participants first underwent an Algometer pain task, then received training or control interactions once a week for four weeks, and were tested again on the pain task. Amount of time participants were able to withstand the pain administered in the Algometer tasks revealed significant differences in pain management across groups from pre to post testing. There was a significant main effect for Group as well as a significant interaction between Time and Group showing that change scores were greater in the Lamaze group than in the Control group. These findings and methodologies may help direct future research toward the application of alternative pain management techniques.

Subject(s)

Pain - Treatment.

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