Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle
Background. Separate lines of research have shown that menstrual cycling and contextual factors such as the gender of research personnel influence experimental pain reporting. Objectives. This study examines how brief, procedural interactions with female and male experimenters can affect experimenta...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2015-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Endocrinology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/520719 |
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| author | Jacob M. Vigil Jared DiDomenico Chance Strenth Patrick Coulombe Eric Kruger Andrea A. Mueller Diego Guevara Beltran Ian Adams |
| author_facet | Jacob M. Vigil Jared DiDomenico Chance Strenth Patrick Coulombe Eric Kruger Andrea A. Mueller Diego Guevara Beltran Ian Adams |
| author_sort | Jacob M. Vigil |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background. Separate lines of research have shown that menstrual cycling and contextual factors such as the gender of research personnel influence experimental pain reporting. Objectives. This study examines how brief, procedural interactions with female and male experimenters can affect experimentally reported pain (cold pressor task, CPT) across the menstrual cycle. Methods. Based on the menstrual calendars 94 naturally cycling women and 38 women using hormonal contraceptives (Mage=19.83, SD=3.09) were assigned to low and high fertility groups. This assignment was based on estimates of their probability of conception given their current cycle day. Experimenters (12 males, 7 females) engaged in minimal procedural interactions with participants before the CPT was performed in solitude. Results. Naturally cycling women in the high fertility group showed significantly higher pain tolerance (81 sec, d=.79) following interactions with a male but not a female experimenter. Differences were not found for women in the low fertility or contraceptive groups. Discussion. The findings illustrate that menstrual functioning moderates the effect that experimenter gender has on pain reporting in women. Conclusion. These findings have implications for standardizing pain measurement protocols and understanding how basic biopsychosocial mechanisms (e.g., person-perception systems) can modulate pain experiences. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8fcd94dd342a412e9d2a1adcf4225ce6 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1687-8337 1687-8345 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2015-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Endocrinology |
| spelling | doaj-art-8fcd94dd342a412e9d2a1adcf4225ce62025-02-03T05:45:34ZengWileyInternational Journal of Endocrinology1687-83371687-83452015-01-01201510.1155/2015/520719520719Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual CycleJacob M. Vigil0Jared DiDomenico1Chance Strenth2Patrick Coulombe3Eric Kruger4Andrea A. Mueller5Diego Guevara Beltran6Ian Adams7Department of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USADepartment of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USADepartment of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USADepartment of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USADepartment of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USADepartment of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USADepartment of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USADepartment of Psychology, University of New Mexico, 1 University of New Mexico, MSC03 2220, Albuquerque, NM 87131-1161, USABackground. Separate lines of research have shown that menstrual cycling and contextual factors such as the gender of research personnel influence experimental pain reporting. Objectives. This study examines how brief, procedural interactions with female and male experimenters can affect experimentally reported pain (cold pressor task, CPT) across the menstrual cycle. Methods. Based on the menstrual calendars 94 naturally cycling women and 38 women using hormonal contraceptives (Mage=19.83, SD=3.09) were assigned to low and high fertility groups. This assignment was based on estimates of their probability of conception given their current cycle day. Experimenters (12 males, 7 females) engaged in minimal procedural interactions with participants before the CPT was performed in solitude. Results. Naturally cycling women in the high fertility group showed significantly higher pain tolerance (81 sec, d=.79) following interactions with a male but not a female experimenter. Differences were not found for women in the low fertility or contraceptive groups. Discussion. The findings illustrate that menstrual functioning moderates the effect that experimenter gender has on pain reporting in women. Conclusion. These findings have implications for standardizing pain measurement protocols and understanding how basic biopsychosocial mechanisms (e.g., person-perception systems) can modulate pain experiences.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/520719 |
| spellingShingle | Jacob M. Vigil Jared DiDomenico Chance Strenth Patrick Coulombe Eric Kruger Andrea A. Mueller Diego Guevara Beltran Ian Adams Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle International Journal of Endocrinology |
| title | Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle |
| title_full | Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle |
| title_fullStr | Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle |
| title_full_unstemmed | Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle |
| title_short | Experimenter Effects on Pain Reporting in Women Vary across the Menstrual Cycle |
| title_sort | experimenter effects on pain reporting in women vary across the menstrual cycle |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/520719 |
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