AimThe 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.
Method595 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.
ResultsSignificantly 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).