COPING WITH COLD-PRESSOR PAIN - EFFECTS OF MOOD AND COVERT IMAGINAL MODELING

Thirty volunteers participated in cold-pressor pain hand-immersions to investigate the effects of moods on imaginal model interventions. Participants (N = 30) were randomly assigned to one of three treatments. Pleasant and unpleasant imageries induced participant mood states. Participants experienced either (a) pleasant imaginal scenes followed by imaginal models, (b) unpleasant imaginal scenes followed by imaginal models or, (c) no intervention. Two-way repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and a one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were conducted. Unpleasant mood induction participants reported more negative moods (i.e., sadness, worry) than no treatment controls. Pleasant mood induction participants reported a significant decrease in anger. Pleasant mood induction participants showed significant increases in pain tolerance after treatment. Other groups showed nonsignificant differences in ability to tolerate pain. Hypotheses are given for the results. Results suggest that pleasant moods may have beneficial effects on pain coping interventions.