The pain provocation technique for adolescents with chronic pain: preliminary evidence for its effectiveness.

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of the "pain provocation technique" (PPT)--a focused treatment strategy incorporating interoceptive exposure (i.e., imagining increases in pain intensity), bilateral stimulation (tactile stimulation), and implementation of pain-related coping to decrease pain intensity--for adolescents suffering from chronic pain.

Design: Prospective observational comparative study.

Methods: Adolescents utilizing PPT (19 boys and 21 girls) within multimodal inpatient treatment were compared with adolescents in standard multimodal inpatient treatment matched for age, gender, and diagnosis. Core outcome variables (pain intensity, disability, emotional distress) were assessed at admission and 3 months posttreatment.

Results: Adolescents in the PPT group demonstrated a sharper decrease in pain intensity and school aversion. Both groups demonstrated significant reductions in disability and emotional distress.

Conclusions: Results are discussed in terms of the importance of focused treatment strategies such as interoceptive exposure for adolescents suffering from disabling chronic pain. Future studies are warranted to carefully investigate the effectiveness and possible process of change during the PPT such as sensory, cognitive, emotional, and memory aspects.