This study examined the actual and estimated empathic accuracy (EA) of the parents of adolescents... more This study examined the actual and estimated empathic accuracy (EA) of the parents of adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
The present study investigated the function of parental attention to child pain in regulating par... more The present study investigated the function of parental attention to child pain in regulating parental distress and pain control behaviour when observing their child performing a painful (cold pressor) task (CPT), as well as the moderating role of parental state anxiety. Participants were 62 school children and one of their parents. Parental attention towards or away from child pain (i.e., “Attend to Pain” vs. “Avoid Pain”) was experimentally manipulated during a viewing task pairing unfamiliar children’s neutral and pain faces. Prior to and following the viewing task, parental distress regulation was assessed by heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). In a subsequent phase, parents observed their own child perform a CPT task, allowing assessment of parental pain control behavior (indexed by latency to stop their child’s CPT performance) and parental distress – assessed via self-report prior to and following observation of child CPT performance. Eye-tracking during the viewing task and self-reported attention to own child’s pain confirmed successful attention manipulation. Further, findings indicated that the impact of attentional strategy on parental emotion regulation (indexed by HR, self-report) and pain control behaviour depended upon parents’ state anxiety. Specifically, whereas low anxious parents reported more distress and demonstrated more pain control behaviour in the “Attend to Pain” condition, high anxious parents reported more distress and showed more pain control behaviour in the “Avoid Pain” condition. This inverse pattern was likewise apparent in physiological distress indices (HR) in response to the initial viewing task. Theoretical/clinical implications and further research directions are discussed.
This study examined the actual and estimated empathic accuracy (EA) of the parents of adolescents... more This study examined the actual and estimated empathic accuracy (EA) of the parents of adolescents with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
The present study investigated the function of parental attention to child pain in regulating par... more The present study investigated the function of parental attention to child pain in regulating parental distress and pain control behaviour when observing their child performing a painful (cold pressor) task (CPT), as well as the moderating role of parental state anxiety. Participants were 62 school children and one of their parents. Parental attention towards or away from child pain (i.e., “Attend to Pain” vs. “Avoid Pain”) was experimentally manipulated during a viewing task pairing unfamiliar children’s neutral and pain faces. Prior to and following the viewing task, parental distress regulation was assessed by heart rate (HR) and heart rate variability (HRV). In a subsequent phase, parents observed their own child perform a CPT task, allowing assessment of parental pain control behavior (indexed by latency to stop their child’s CPT performance) and parental distress – assessed via self-report prior to and following observation of child CPT performance. Eye-tracking during the viewing task and self-reported attention to own child’s pain confirmed successful attention manipulation. Further, findings indicated that the impact of attentional strategy on parental emotion regulation (indexed by HR, self-report) and pain control behaviour depended upon parents’ state anxiety. Specifically, whereas low anxious parents reported more distress and demonstrated more pain control behaviour in the “Attend to Pain” condition, high anxious parents reported more distress and showed more pain control behaviour in the “Avoid Pain” condition. This inverse pattern was likewise apparent in physiological distress indices (HR) in response to the initial viewing task. Theoretical/clinical implications and further research directions are discussed.
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Papers by Tine Vervoort