How Do I Help My Partner in Pain? Partners' Helping Behaviors Are Linked to Lower Pain and Greater Perceived Validation During an Experimental Pain Task.

Background: Observers' responses to people with illness are important predictors of quality of life, yet findings are mixed regarding the types of responses that affect illness-related suffering.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine whether perspective taking positively affects observers' responses to their romantic partner experiencing experimentally induced pain and whether responses based in Self-Determination Theory and communication models of illness are related to perceived validation and pain outcomes.

Methods: Undergraduate romantic couples (N = 122) completed baseline questionnaires; then one partner was randomly assigned to complete the cold pressor task, whereas the other partner observed.