The role of childhood traumatic events in fear of pain related behaviours in adulthood

Abstract

Introduction

Traumatic experiences during childhood may contribute to somatizing fear and anxiety related pain behaviour.

Objective

This study tested the role of childhood traumatic/stressful events on adult fear related pain behaviours.

Aim

The aim was to investigate the differences in fear of pain, anxiety pain symptoms and heart focused anxiety, among individuals who had been exposed to childhood traumatic/stressful life events in contrast to those who had not experienced.

Method

595 healthy individuals participated to the present study (164 men – 431 women, mean age 34, SD = 12, ranged 18–75). Subjects were classified into two groups— trauma and no-trauma — based on their personal ratings of experienced traumatic and or stressful events during childhood (300 and 295 individuals respectively). In all participants, the Fear of Pain Questionnaire - III (FPQ-III), The Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale-20 (PASS-20) and the Cardiac Anxiety Questionnaire (CAQ) were administered.

Results

Significantly differences between trauma and no-trauma group were observed in almost all total scores and subscales: Severe Pain FPQ-III (t = 2,992, p = .003), Total FPQ-III (t = 2,443, p = .015), Fearful Thinking PASS-20 (t = 3,616, p = .000), Cognitive Anxiety PASS-20 (t = 2,989 p = .003), Physiological Responses PASS-20 (t = 3,666, p = .000), Total PASS-20 (t = 3,218, p = .001), Fear CAQ (t = 2,016, p = .044), Avoidance CAQ (t = 2,269, p = .024), Attention CAQ (t = 2,288, p = .022) and Total CAQ (t = 2,749, p = .006).

Conclusion

Our results illustrate the meangfull of trauma in clinical practise and are in a similar vein with psychoanalytic thoughts that all types of trauma are firstly psychological trauma's.