How Does Mindfulness Meditation Buffer the Negative Effects of Pain and Suffering in the COVID-19 World? (Pain Sample)

How Does Mindfulness Meditation Buffer the Negative Effects of Pain and Suffering in the COVID-19 World? (Pain Sample)

An Online Randomized Controlled Trial Comparing the Effects of Mindfulness, Sham Mindfulness and Book Listening Control on Pain Experience in Adults With Recurrent and Chronic Pain

Both mindfulness meditation and expectancy effects are known to reduce pain intensity, pain unpleasantness and pain catastrophizing, but it is unknown whether and how expectancy effects contribute to the overall effect of mindfulness meditation on these outcomes, especially during significant global events such as the coronavirus pandemic. This study includes four interrelated aims that will probe these effects and interactions.

As many as 1 in 4 Australians experience chronic pain. Further, it is yet unknown the effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on Australians with or at risk of chronic pain. There is a critical need for the development and evaluation of fast-acting non-pharmaceutical treatments that have the capacity to target the multidimensional nature of chronic pain. This study will investigate how mindfulness meditation and common expectancy effects interact and will further characterise the mechanisms underlying these effects. Results will ultimately lead to targeted interventions that more effectively engage cognitive mechanisms associated with pain attenuation.

4 x (2) mixed design, with training (mindfulness vs specific sham mindfulness vs general sham mindfulness vs book listening control, between subjects) and time (pre-treatment vs post-treatment, within-subjects) as factors.

"focussed attention" mindfulness meditation technique taught as means to reduce pain intensity and unpleasantness.

a training session designed to specifically match the real mindfulness training while lacking the proposed active elements of mindfulness training. Delivered as a means to elicit placebo-mediated (but not mindfulness-mediated) reductions in pain intensity and unpleasantness

a training session designed to generally match focussed-attention mindfulness meditation while maintaining greater distance from proposed mindfulness mechanisms. Delivered as a means to elicit placebo-mediated (but not mindfulness-mediated) reductions in pain intensity and unpleasantness

this group completes no meditation training. They listen to a spoken excerpt from the audiobook "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne"

Participants will complete a single session of 20-minutes online guided audio-delivered training session of one of the four conditions.

assessed via the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS; 0=no catastrophizing, 52=highest catastrophizing, 30+=clinically significant catastrophizing)

assessed via the Pain-related Cognitive Processes Questionnaire (PCPQ-R; 0=lowest reappraisal, 4=highest reappraisal)

assessed via the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Observing Subscale (FFMQ-O; 1=lowest observing, 5=highest observing)

assessed via the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire Non-reacting Subscale (FFMQ-NR; 1=lowest non-reactivity, 5=highest non-reactivity)

assessed via the Metacognitive Processes of Decentering - State (MpoD-s; 0=lowest decentering, 3=highest decentering)

Inclusion Criteria: At least 18 years of age Recurrent pain (two or more days in the last month) Chronic pain (pain most days in the last three months) Able to read and understand English Exclusion Criteria: Not experiencing recurrent or chronic pain Incomplete or invalid data (response time < 32 minutes, failing attention checks) Completing the 20-minute training module in < 18 minutes or > 90 minutes

All of the individual trial-related participant data collected during the trial, after de-identification.

Investigators whose proposed use of the data has been approved by an independent review committee. Initial contact should be directed to the contact person for scientific enquiries (Mr Jonathan Davies, jonathan.davies@uq.edu.au). Note: Requestors will need to sign a data access agreement.