Objectives: Previous studies have shown that brief mindfulness trainings can have significant analgesic effects. However, the effects of the various components of mindfulness on pain analgesia are not well understood. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of two components of mindfulness interventions - attention and acceptance on pain analgesia.
Methods: One hundred and nineteen healthy college students without prior mindfulness experience underwent a cold pressor test to measure pain tolerance before and after the training. Pain intensity, tolerance, distress, threshold and endurance time were also tested. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (1) acceptance of pain, (2) attention to pain, (3) acceptance of and attention to pain, or (4) control.
Results: The results showed that both the acceptance strategy and the combined acceptance and attention group increased pain endurance and tolerance after training. Furthermore, acceptance group had longer pain endurance time and tolerance time than attention group and control group.
Conclusions: These results suggest that acceptance of pain is more important than attention to pain. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.
Keywords: acceptance; attention; mechanism; mindfulness; pain; short-term.