Generalization of instrumentally acquired pain-related avoidance to novel but similar movements using a robotic arm-reaching paradigm

DOI

Avoidance is considered a key contributor to the development and maintenance of chronic pain disability, likely through its excessive generalization. This study investigated whether acquired avoidance behavior generalizes to novel but similar movements. Using a robotic arm, participants moved their arm from a starting to a target location via one of three possible movement trajectories. For the Experimental Group, the shortest, easiest trajectory was always paired with pain (T1 = 100% reinforcement/no resistance and deviation). Pain could be partly or completely avoided by choosing increasingly effortful movements (T2= 50% reinforcement, moderate resistance/deviation; T3 = 0% reinforcement, strongest resistance/largest deviation). A Yoked Group received the same number of painful stimuli irrespective of their own behavior. Outcomes were self-reported fear of movement-related pain, pain-expectancy, avoidance behavior, (maximal deviation from the shortest trajectory), and trajectory choice behavior. We tested generalization to three novel trajectories (G1-3) positioned next to the acquisition trajectories. Whereas acquired fear of movement-related pain and pain-expectancy generalized in the Experimental Group, avoidance behavior did not, suggesting that threat beliefs and high-cost avoidance may not be directly related. The lack of avoidance generalization may be due to a perceived context-switch in the configurations of the acquisition and the generalization phases.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.34894/SQCSDD
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2019.103525
Metadata Access https://dataverse.nl/oai?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_datacite&identifier=doi:10.34894/SQCSDD
Provenance
Creator Glogan, Eveliina ORCID logo; Gatzounis, Rena ORCID logo; Meulders, Michiel ORCID logo; Meulders, Ann ORCID logo
Publisher DataverseNL
Contributor Glogan, Eveliina; Meulders, Ann; faculty data manager FPN
Publication Year 2022
Rights info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
OpenAccess false
Contact Glogan, Eveliina (Maastricht University); Meulders, Ann (Maastricht University); faculty data manager FPN (Maastricht University)
Representation
Resource Type survey data; Dataset
Format application/x-spss-sav
Size 143463
Version 1.0
Discipline Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Aquaculture; Agriculture, Forestry, Horticulture, Aquaculture and Veterinary Medicine; Life Sciences; Social Sciences; Social and Behavioural Sciences; Soil Sciences