Research suggests that negative affective states, such as fear and anxiety that accompany placebo treatment may be considered predictors of placebo hypoalgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia. There is also data showing that the likelihood of developing nocebo hyperalgesia is related to the relatively stable tendency to experience these negative emotions. We aimed to summarize the current state-of-the-art in studies and theoretical models on the role of fear and anxiety in placebo hypoalgesia/nocebo hyperalgesia, with a clear differentiation between these emotions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRelatively recently, in 2009, experimental studies were undertaken to determine the role of social observational learning in forming hypoalgesic, analgesic and hyperalgesic responses to a placebo. The research findings obtained in studies published before 2018 were integrated and formed the basis of the theoretical model of social learning of placebo effects in pain proposed by Bajcar and Bąbel. This model considered the involvement of different types of modeling (ie, behavioral modeling, symbolic modeling, and verbal modeling) in shaping placebo hypoalgesia/analgesia and nocebo hyperalgesia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResearch suggests that pain negatively affects body image, and body image may also influence reported pain levels. This review aims to summarize the literature on differences in body image distortion between individuals with pain compared to pain-free individuals. The review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 statement and an a priori preregistered protocol.
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