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Busch, Volker ; Zunhammer, Matthias ; Halski, Agnes ; Eichhammer, Peter

Theory of Mind and Emotional Awareness in Chronic Somatoform Pain Patients

Busch, Volker, Zunhammer, Matthias, Halski, Agnes und Eichhammer, Peter (2015) Theory of Mind and Emotional Awareness in Chronic Somatoform Pain Patients. PLoS ONE 2015 (10), e0140016.

Veröffentlichungsdatum dieses Volltextes: 26 Nov 2015 12:30
Artikel
DOI zum Zitieren dieses Dokuments: 10.5283/epub.32921


Zusammenfassung

Objective The present study aimed at investigating whether chronic pain patients are impaired in Theory of Mind (ToM), or Emotional Awareness. Methods Thirty inpatients suffering from chronic somatoform pain, as well as thirty healthy controls matched for age, sex, and education were recruited. ToM abilities were measured using the Frith-Happe animation task, in which participants interpret ...

Objective The present study aimed at investigating whether chronic pain patients are impaired in Theory of Mind (ToM), or Emotional Awareness. Methods Thirty inpatients suffering from chronic somatoform pain, as well as thirty healthy controls matched for age, sex, and education were recruited. ToM abilities were measured using the Frith-Happe animation task, in which participants interpret video-clips depicting moving geometric forms that mimic social interactions. The responses given were scored for appropriateness and the degree of inferred intentionality according to established protocols. Emotional awareness was measured using the Levels of Emotional Awareness Scale (LEAS), for which participants provide written descriptions of feelings in imaginary emotional situations. Standardized scoring was performed to capture the number and quality of emotional terms used. Results Responses lengths were similar in both groups and for both tasks. Patients attained significantly lower intentionality but not appropriateness scores when interpreting ToM interactions. No significant group differences were found when interpreting goal directed interactions. Emotional awareness scores were significantly lower in patients compared to healthy controls. Conclusions Our results suggest that chronic pain patients are impaired in mentalizing and emotional awareness. Future studies are needed to determine whether these ToM and emotional awareness deficits contribute to the etiology of somatoform pain and whether addressing these deficits in therapeutic interventions can improve polymodal pain therapy.



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Details

DokumentenartArtikel
Titel eines Journals oder einer ZeitschriftPLoS ONE
Verlag:PUBLIC LIBRARY SCIENCE
Ort der Veröffentlichung:SAN FRANCISCO
Band:2015
Nummer des Zeitschriftenheftes oder des Kapitels:10
Seitenbereich:e0140016
Datum7 Oktober 2015
InstitutionenMedizin > Lehrstuhl für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
Identifikationsnummer
WertTyp
10.1371/journal.pone.0140016DOI
Article ID: e0140016Andere
Stichwörter / KeywordsALEXITHYMIA; SOMATIZATION; DEPRESSION; SCALE;
Dewey-Dezimal-Klassifikation600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin
StatusVeröffentlicht
BegutachtetJa, diese Version wurde begutachtet
An der Universität Regensburg entstandenJa
URN der UB Regensburgurn:nbn:de:bvb:355-epub-329211
Dokumenten-ID32921

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