Do Emotions Affect Mechanical Pain Thresholds? (DEAMPT)

The Effect of Positive and Negative Emotions on Mechanical Pain Thresholds: a Randomized Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to investigate if different emotional states could influence mechanical pain thresholds.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Emotion induction

Detailed Description

Participants will be randomized into 4 different groups watching different short video-clips (2.20 min). The negative emotions group will watch an uncomfortable short video containing violence and blood, the positive emotions group will watch a video containing a stand-up comedy show, the neutral emotions group will watch a video with Swedish nature, and the control group will just wait for 2.20 min, without any instructions about what to think about. Pressure pain thresholds will be measured with an algometer before and after the video-clip interventions.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 152
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Sweden
  • Kronoberg
    • Växjö, Kronoberg, Sweden, 35195
      • Helena Gunnarsson

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Above 18 years of age, fluent in Swedish.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Pain anywhere in body during the test session, known neurological disease.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Negative emotional condition; The participant will watch a short video-clip with negative emotional content.	Behavioral: Emotion induction; The participants will receive different emotion inductions through short video clips.; Other Names: Negative emotion induction, positive emotions induction, neutral emotions induction, control.
Experimental: Positive emotional condition.; The participant will watch a short video-clip with positive emotional content.	Behavioral: Emotion induction; The participants will receive different emotion inductions through short video clips.; Other Names: Negative emotion induction, positive emotions induction, neutral emotions induction, control.
Experimental: Neutral condition.; The participant will watch a short video-clip with neutral emotional content.	Behavioral: Emotion induction; The participants will receive different emotion inductions through short video clips.; Other Names: Negative emotion induction, positive emotions induction, neutral emotions induction, control.
Experimental: Control condition.; The participant will not watch a video-clip, but will wait without specific instructions about what to think about.	Behavioral: Emotion induction; The participants will receive different emotion inductions through short video clips.; Other Names: Negative emotion induction, positive emotions induction, neutral emotions induction, control.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pressure pain threshold	Pressure pain threshold value after each different emotion intervention and control compared to before each emotion intervention and control.	Measurements will be conducted at the test session, which will have a duration of approximately 20 minutes for each participant.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Linnaeus University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Helena Gunnarsson, PhD, Linnéuniversitetet

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 1, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 10, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): May 22, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 3, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 3, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): October 10, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 12, 2025
• Last Verified: October 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 2023-03968-01

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: YES
• IPD Plan Description: Data is available after study completion.
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: The data will be available after study completion.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: The data is anonymous and is therefore freely available.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No