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Some pain behaviors appear to be automatic, reflexive manifestations of pain, whereas others present as voluntarily controlled. This project examined whether this distinction would characterize pain cues used in observational pain measures for children aged 4-12. To develop a comprehensive list of cues, a systematic literature search of studies describing development of children's observational pain assessment tools was conducted using MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and Web of Science. Twenty-one articles satisfied the criteria. A total of 66 nonredundant pain behavior items were identified. To determine whether items would be perceived as automatic or controlled, 277 research participants rated each on multiple scales associated with the distinction. Factor analyses yielded three major factors: the "Automatic" factor included items related to facial expression, paralinguistics, and consolability; the "Controlled" factor included items related to intentional movements, verbalizations, and social actions; and the "Ambiguous" factor included items related to voluntary facial expressions. Pain behaviors in observational pain scales for children can be characterized as automatic, controlled, and ambiguous, supporting a dual-processing, neuroregulatory model of pain expression. These dimensions would be expected to influence judgments of the nature and severity of pain being experienced and the extent to which the child is attempting to control the social environment., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interests regarding the publication of this paper.

Background and Objectives: Pain in Child Health (PICH) is a transdisciplinary, international research training consortium. PICH has been funded since 2002 as a Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, with contributions from other funding partners and the founding participation of five Canadian universities. The goal of PICH has been to create a community of scholars in pediatric pain to improve child health outcomes., Methods: Quantitative analyses enumerated PICH faculty, trainees, training activities and scientific outputs. Interviews with PICH stakeholders were analyzed using qualitative methods capturing perceptions of the program's strengths, limitations, and opportunities for development and sustainability., Results: PICH has supported 218 trainee members from 2002 through 2013, from 14 countries and more than 16 disciplines. The faculty at the end of 2013 comprised nine co-principal investigators, 14 Canadian coinvestigators, and 28 Canadian and international collaborators. Trainee members published 697 peer-reviewed journal articles on pediatric pain through 2013, among other research dissemination activities including conference presentations and webinars. Networks have been established between new and established researchers across Canada and in 13 other countries. Perceptions from stakeholders commended PICH for its positive impact on the development of pediatric pain researchers. Stakeholders emphasized skills and abilities gained through PICH, the perceived impact of PICH training on this research field, and considerations for future training in developing researchers in pediatric pain., Conclusions: PICH has been successfully developing highly qualified health research personnel within a Canadian and international community of pediatric pain scholarship.

Objectives: Capacities for self-regulation that influence infant adaptation to noxious stimulation require investigation of changes in behavior over time. Prenatal exposure to maternal depression and anxiety (MDA) has been linked to altered infant pain reactivity; however, findings are inconclusive about MDA dynamic impacts on recovery. This study quantified the temporal profile of behavioral response and recovery to routine heel lance (HL) of infants with and without prenatal-MDA exposure. Aims were to examine whether MDA were associated with alterations in time-based measures of infant behavior and sequential patterning in pain expression., Materials and Methods: Videotaped facial, body, and cry behaviors of 21 full-term newborns were coded second-by-second for the duration of HL (baseline, HL, Post-HL) using validated behavioral coding systems. Mean heart rate and proportion of time infants spent exhibiting behavioral measures were compared between infant groups and over subphases of HL. Simple regressions, latency, and Yule-Q measures of effect size examined which behaviors were predicted by prenatal-MDA and magnitude of sequential association between first and subsequent behavior., Results: During HL, all infants reacted immediately and substantially on heart rate, facial, body, and cry measures. Facial reactivity was followed within 2 seconds by body and cry behavior. There were no group differences in magnitude of initial behavioral reactions, but during Post-HL, MDA-exposed infants spent more time crying in a weak/exhausted manner and displayed strained and erratic limb movement and immobility., Conclusions: Temporal measures can further help in understanding of infant complex behavioral responses to pain. Delayed recovery in MDA-exposed infants suggested diminished capacities for self-regulation of noxious distress.

Unlabelled: This study examined the impact of evidence concerning the presence of 1) a biomedical basis for pain and 2) psychosocial influences on practitioner appraisals of patient pain experiences. Furthermore, the potential moderating role of patient pain behavior was examined. In an online study, 52 general practitioners and 46 physiotherapists viewed video sequences of 4 patients manifesting pain, with accompanying vignettes describing presence or absence of medical evidence and psychosocial influences. Participants estimated pain intensity, daily interference, sympathy felt, effectiveness of pain medication, self-efficacy, their likability, and suspicions of deception. Primary findings indicated lower perceived pain and daily interference, less sympathy, lower expectations of medication impact, and less self-efficacy when medical evidence was absent. The same results were found when psychosocial influences were present, but only when the patient displayed higher levels of pain behavior. Furthermore, absence of medical evidence was related to less positive evaluations of the patients and to higher beliefs in deception in both professions. The presence of psychosocial influences was related to less positive evaluations and higher beliefs in deception in both professions. In sum, a range of contextual factors influence health care practitioner responses to patient pain. Implications for caregiving behavior are discussed., Perspective: The present study indicates that in the absence of clear medical evidence and in the presence of psychosocial influences, patient pain might be taken less seriously by health care practitioners. These findings are important to further understand the difficulties that relate to the clinical encounter between pain patients and health care practitioners., (Copyright © 2014 American Pain Society. All rights reserved.)

Facial expressions provide a primary source of inference about a child's pain. Although facial expressions typically appear spontaneous, children have some capacity to fake or suppress displays of pain, thereby potentially misleading caregiver judgments. The present study was designed to compare accuracy of different groups of caregivers in detecting deception in children's facial expressions of pain when voluntarily controlled. Caregivers (15 pediatricians, 15 pediatric nurses, and 15 parents) viewed 48 video clips of children, 12 in each of 4 conditions (genuine pain, faked pain, suppressed pain, neutral baseline), and judged which condition was apparent to them. A 3 (group: pediatrician vs pediatric nurse vs parent)×4 (condition: genuine vs faked vs suppressed vs neutral) mixed analysis of variance (ANOVA) of judgment accuracies revealed a significant main effect of group, with nurses demonstrating higher overall accuracy scores than parents, and pediatricians not differing from either group. As well, all caregivers, regardless of group, demonstrated the lowest accuracy when viewing the genuine condition, relative to the faked and suppressed conditions, with accuracy for the neutral condition not differing significantly from the other conditions. Overall, caregivers were more successful at identifying faked and suppressed than genuine expressions of pain in children, and pediatric nurses fared better overall in judgment accuracy than parents., (Copyright © 2012 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

We present a detailed framework for understanding the numerous and complicated interactions among psychological and social determinants of pain through examination of the process of pain communication. The focus is on an improved understanding of immediate dyadic transactions during painful events in the context of broader social phenomena. Fine-grain consideration of social transactions during pain leads to an appreciation of sociobehavioral events affecting both suffering persons as well as caregivers. Our examination considers knowledge from a variety of perspectives, including clinical health psychology, social and developmental processes, evolutionary psychology, communication studies, and behavioral neuroscience.

Objectives: Assessing pain in elderly persons, who have diminished capacity to communicate verbally, requires use of observational scales that focus upon nonverbal behavior. Facial expression has been recognized as providing the most specific and sensitive nonverbal cues for pain. This study examined the validity of facial expression components of 6 widely used pain assessment scales developed for elders with dementia. Descriptions of the facial expression of pain vary widely on these scales., Methods: The detailed, anatomically based, objectively coded, and validated Facial Action Coding System was used as a criterion index to provide a definitive description of the facial expression of pain. Thirty elderly inpatients with clinically significant pain in the back or hip, the majority of whom had cognitive impairments, provided videotaped reactions to physical activities. Participants' facial expressions were videotaped during 4 randomly ordered physical activities and coded by a qualified Facial Action Coding System coder. Three 6-second clips indicative of mild, moderate, and severe pain intensities were selected for study for each participant. The 90 clips were coded by 5 raters using the facial expression components of the following observational scales: Doloplus-2, Mahoney, Abbey, pain assessment checklist for seniors with limited ability to communicate, noncommunicative patient's Pain Assessment Instrument, and Pain Assessment in Advanced Dementia., Results: Overall, scales that provided specific descriptions using the empirically displayed facial actions associated with pain yielded greater sensitivity, interjudge reliability, and validity as indices of pain., Discussion: Facial expression items on observational scales for assessing pain in the elderly benefit from adherence to empirically derived descriptions. Those using the scales should receive specific direction concerning cues to be assessed. Observational scales that provide descriptors that correspond to how people actually display facial expressions of pain perform better at differentiating intensities of pain.

Unlabelled: Major efforts to develop objective measurement tools for neonatal pain assessment have been made. However, the challenge of measuring pain in neonates remains suggesting that contextual factors (cFs) might alter their responses to pain. Although the role of cFs is increasingly discussed as crucial for pain assessment, they are not well described in the literature and are rarely considered in the clinical setting despite their importance., Aim: To systematically examine studies investigating the impact of cFs on pain response in preterm infants., Method: A literature search was undertaken for the period from 1990 to 2009. Studies reporting the relation between one or more cFs and pain response in preterm infants during a heelstick procedure were considered for inclusion., Results: Twenty-three studies satisfied inclusion criteria. The studies varied relative to their design, sample, analysis procedures, and variables examined. Six categories of cFs emerged: age, pain exposure, health status, therapeutic interventions, behavioral status, and demographic factors. The examined cFs varied in the strength of their association with pain response, although none were invariably related, as evidenced by contradictory findings. In some cases the inconsistencies appeared attributable to methodological limitations in studies. Behavioral and physiological pain responses were not always in agreement as would be expected., Conclusion: This review supports the influence of some cFs on pain response. However, the results remain inconclusive which may be, in part, related to the heterogeneity of the studies. Contextual factors need further investigation for a better understanding of the magnitude of their effect on pain response., (Copyright © 2011 European Federation of International Association for the Study of Pain Chapters. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Accurate perception of another person's painful distress would appear to be accomplished through sensitivity to both automatic (unintentional, reflexive) and controlled (intentional, purposive) behavioural expression. We examined whether observers would construe diverse behavioural cues as falling within these domains, consistent with cognitive neuroscience findings describing activation of both automatic and controlled neuroregulatory processes. Using online survey methodology, 308 research participants rated behavioural cues as "goal directed vs. non-goal directed," "conscious vs. unconscious," "uncontrolled vs. controlled," "fast vs. slow," "intentional (deliberate) vs. unintentional," "stimulus driven (obligatory) vs. self driven," and "requiring contemplation vs. not requiring contemplation." The behavioural cues were the 39 items provided by the PROMIS pain behaviour bank, constructed to be representative of the diverse possibilities for pain expression. Inter-item correlations among rating scales provided evidence of sufficient internal consistency justifying a single score on an automatic/controlled dimension (excluding the inconsistent fast vs. slow scale). An initial exploratory factor analysis on 151 participant data sets yielded factors consistent with "controlled" and "automatic" actions, as well as behaviours characterized as "ambiguous." A confirmatory factor analysis using the remaining 151 data sets replicated EFA findings, supporting theoretical predictions that observers would distinguish immediate, reflexive, and spontaneous reactions (primarily facial expression and paralinguistic features of speech) from purposeful and controlled expression (verbal behaviour, instrumental behaviour requiring ongoing, integrated responses). There are implicit dispositions to organize cues signaling pain in others into the well-defined categories predicted by dual process theory., (Copyright © 2011 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Unlabelled: Although direct experience and verbal instruction are important sources in the development of pain-related beliefs and behaviors, accumulating evidence indicates that observation of others in pain may be equally as important. Taking a contemporary view on learning as a starting point, we discuss available evidence on observational learning in the context of pain, highlight its importance for both development and management of chronic pain problems, and discuss potential moderators of observational learning effects. We argue that the capacity to understand and appreciate the experience of another person is fundamental to observational learning, including use of this information to establish the association between pain and antecedent or consequent stimuli. A main objective of this paper is to stimulate research on the role of learning about pain from others. Several lines for further research, including clinical applications, are delineated., Perspective: Based upon a contemporary view on learning, this focus article delineates how pain-related beliefs and behaviors may be learnt by observing others. It is discussed how further research on the acquisition of pain-related beliefs/behaviors might further our understanding of pain and disability., (Copyright © 2011 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Pain assessment conventionally has been viewed hierarchically with self-report as its "gold-standard." Recent attempts to improve pain management have focused on the importance of assessment, for example, the initiative to include pain as the "fifth vital sign." We question the focus in the conceptualization of pain assessment upon a "vital sign," not in terms of the importance of assessment, but in terms of the application of self-report as a mechanistic index akin to a biologic measure such as heart rate and blood pressure. We synthesize current inclusive models of pain and pain assessment and propose a more comprehensive conceptualization of pain assessment as a transaction based on an organismic interplay between the patient and clinician.

Unlabelled: Recent developments in clinical, cognitive, and behavioral sciences as well as in social neuroscience can provide new perspectives on our understanding of different forms of pain expression and the social reactions of observers to various types of pain expression. Studies indicate that pain expression is governed by both automatic (unintentional, reflexive) and controlled (intentional, purposive) neuroregulatory systems. Reciprocal mechanisms in observers responsible for automatic (unintentional, reflexive) and controlled (intentional, reflective) reactions also are important. Observers appear more likely to display immediate "visceral" emotional reactions to unintentional, reflexive expression, whereas controlled expression characterized by purposive behavior appears more likely to elicit reflection on the nature and origins of the person's pain. This review summarizes research within the context of a theoretical model for understanding how pain is perceived in others., Perspective: People attempting to understand another person's pain may have access to the person's spontaneous behavioral reaction as well as verbal report and other purposive communications. The former instigates reflexive and emotional reactions, whereas the latter tends to be perceived as confounding expression of experience with response to situational demands., (Copyright 2010 American Pain Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Research suggests that caregivers' beliefs pertaining to infant pain and which infant pain cues are perceived to be important play an integral role in pediatric pain assessment and management., Objectives: Following a recent quasi-experimental study reporting on caregiver background and age differences in actual infant pain judgments, the present study clarified these findings by analyzing caregivers' pain beliefs and the cues they use to make pain assessments, and by examining how the wording of belief questions influenced caregivers' responses., Methods: After making pain judgments based on video footage of infants between two and 18 months of age receiving immunizations, parents, nurses and pediatricians were required to respond to questionnaires regarding pain beliefs and importance of cues., Results: Parents generally differed from pediatricians. Parents tended to have less optimal beliefs regarding medicating the youngest infants, were more influenced by question wording, and reported using many more cues when judging older infants than other caregiver groups. In terms of beliefs, influence of question wording and cue use, nurses tended to fall in between both groups; they displayed similarities to both parents and pediatricians., Conclusions: Paralleling the original findings on pain judgments, these findings suggest that parents differ from pediatricians in their pain beliefs and the cues they use to make pain judgments. Moreover, some similarities were found between parents and nurses, and between nurses and pediatricians. Finally, caution must be taken when interpreting research pertaining to beliefs about infant pain because question wording appears to influence interpretation.

Facial expressions of pain and emotions provide powerful social signals, which impart information about a person's state. Unfortunately, research on pain and emotion expression has been conducted largely in parallel with few bridges allowing for direct comparison of the expressive displays and their impact on observers. Moreover, although facial expressions are highly dynamic, previous research has relied mainly on static photographs. Here we directly compare the recognition and discrimination of dynamic facial expressions of pain and basic emotions by naive observers. One-second film clips were recorded in eight actors displaying neutral facial expressions and expressions of pain and the basic emotions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness and surprise. Results based on the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) confirmed the distinct (and prototypical) configuration of pain and basic emotion expressions reported in previous studies. Volunteers' evaluations of those dynamic expressions on intensity, arousal and valence demonstrate the high sensitivity and specificity of the observers' judgement. Additional rating data further suggest that, for comparable expression intensity, pain is perceived as more arousing and more unpleasant. This study strongly supports the claim that the facial expression of pain is distinct from the expression of basic emotions. This set of dynamic facial expressions provides unique material to explore the psychological and neurobiological processes underlying the perception of pain expression, its impact on the observer, and its role in the regulation of social behaviour.

Objective: To examine whether caregiver judgments of infant pain would vary systematically with different infant caregiver groups and infant age., Methods: A total of 123 caregivers (41 parents, 41 in patient nurses, 41 pediatricians) viewed videotapes of the vigorous behavioral responses of healthy infants (aged 2, 4, 6, 12, and 18 months) to a routine immunization injection and provided ratings of both the affective distress and pain intensity observed., Results: A principal components analysis of affective and intensity ratings yielded a weighted pain summary score for each injection event. Older infants were attributed significantly more pain than younger infants, even though the vigor of the behavioral reactions was experimentally controlled across age groups. A profile analysis contrasting observer groups indicated that pediatricians attributed significantly lower levels of pain than parents, while nurses were intermediate to the other groups, not significantly differing from either group. These systematic differences in judgments were consistent across infant age groups., Conclusions: The findings reveal systematic sources of significant variations in observer judgments of infant pain. Despite an absence of differences in the behavioral reactions of the children, both the type of caregiver and their knowledge of the child's age systematically influenced attributions of pain to infants. This work suggests the important role of caregiver role variation and perceived developmental maturity as determinants of infant pain judgments and highlights potential areas of difficulty in controlling the unnecessary suffering of infants.

This paper represents an expert-based consensus statement on pain assessment among older adults. It is intended to provide recommendations that will be useful for both researchers and clinicians. Contributors were identified based on literature prominence and with the aim of achieving a broad representation of disciplines. Recommendations are provided regarding the physical examination and the assessment of pain using self-report and observational methods (suitable for seniors with dementia). In addition, recommendations are provided regarding the assessment of the physical and emotional functioning of older adults experiencing pain. The literature underlying the consensus recommendations is reviewed. Multiple revisions led to final reviews of 2 complete drafts before consensus was reached.

Children's efforts to hide or exaggerate facial expressions of pain were compared to their genuine expressions using the cold pressor task. Fifty healthy 8- to 12-year-olds (25 boys, 25 girls) submerged their hands in cold and warm water and were instructed about what to show on their faces. Cold 10 degrees C water was used for the genuine and suppressed conditions and warm 30 degrees C water was used for the faked condition. Facial activity was videotaped and coded using the Facial Action Coding System to provide objective, detailed accounts of facial expressions in each condition, as well as during a baseline condition. Parents were subsequently asked to correctly identify each of the four conditions by viewing each video clip twice. Faked expressions of pain in children were found to show more frequent and more intense facial actions compared to their genuine pain expression, indicating that children had some understanding but were not fully successful in faking expressions of pain. Children's suppressed expressions, however, showed no differences from baseline facial actions, indicating that they were able to successfully suppress their expressions of pain. Parents correctly identified the four conditions significantly more frequently than would be expected by chance. They were generally quite successful at detecting faked pain, but experienced difficulty differentiating among the other conditions. The results indicate that children are capable of controlling their facial expressions of pain when instructed to do so, but are better able to hide their pain than to fake it.

The facial expression of pain is a prominent non-verbal pain behaviour, unique and distinct from the expression of basic emotions. Yet, little is known about the neurobiological basis for the communication of pain. Here, subjects performed a sex-discrimination task while we investigated neural responses to implicit processing of dynamic visual stimuli of male or female faces displaying pain or angry expressions, matched on expression intensity and compared to neutral expression. Stimuli were presented in a mixed blocked/event-related design while blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal was acquired using whole-brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 1.5 Tesla. Comparable sustained responses to pain and angry faces were found in the superior temporal sulcus (STS). Stronger transient activation was also observed to male expression of pain (Vs neutral and anger) in high-order visual areas (STS and fusiform face area) and in emotion-related areas including the amygdala (highest peak t-value=10.8), perigenual anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and SI. Male pain compared to anger expression also activated the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, SII/posterior insula and anterior insula. This is consistent with the hypothesis that the implicit processing of male pain expression triggers an emotional reaction characterized by a threat-related response. Unexpectedly, several areas responsive to male expression, including the amygdala, perigenual ACC, and somatosensory areas, showed a decrease in activation to female pain faces (Vs neutral). This sharp contrast in the response to male and female faces suggests potential differences in the socio-functional role of pain expression in males and females.

Accurate pain assessment is the foundation for effective pain management in children. At present, there is no clear consensus regarding the age at which young children are able to appropriately use self-report scales for pain. This study examined young children's ability to use the Faces Pain Scale-Revised; (FPS-R; [Hicks CL, von Baeyer CL, Spafford PA, van Korlaar I, Goodenough B. The Faces Pain Scale-Revised: toward a common metric in pediatric pain measurement. Pain 2001; 93: 173-83]) for pain in response to vignettes and investigated the role of developmental factors in predicting their ability to use the scale. One hundred and twelve healthy children (3-6 years old) were assessed for their ability to accurately use a common faces scale to rate pain in hypothetical vignettes depicting pain scenarios common in childhood. Accuracy was determined by considering whether children's judgements of pain severity matched the pain severity depicted in the various vignettes. Children were also administered measures of numerical reasoning, language, and overall cognitive development. Results indicated that 5- and 6-year-old children were significantly more accurate in their use of the FPS-R in response to the vignettes than 4-year-old children, who in turn were significantly more accurate than 3-year-old children. However, over half of the 6-year-olds demonstrated difficulties using the FPS-R in response to the vignettes. Child age was the only significant predictor of children's ability to use the scale in response to the vignettes. Thus, a substantial number of young children experienced difficulties using the FPS-R when rating pain in hypothetical vignettes, although the ability to use the scale did improve with age.

Objectives: Although self-reports are a commonly used means of assessing pain in clinical settings, little is understood about the nature of children's spontaneous verbal expressions of pain. The purpose of this study was to describe verbalizations of pain among children receiving a preschool immunization and to examine how pain verbalizations correspond to children's facial expressions and self-reports of pain intensity., Methods: Fifty-eight children between the ages of 4 years 8 months and 6 years 3 months (67% female) were videotaped while receiving their routine preschool immunization. Global ratings of facial expression and detailed transcription and coding of pain verbalizations were undertaken. Children provided self-reports of pain using a 7-point faces pain scale., Results: Fifty-three percent of children used verbalizations spontaneously to express their pain. The modal verbalization was the interjection "Ow!," which expressed negative affect and was specific to the experience of pain. Older children were less likely to use verbalizations to express their pain. Children who used verbalizations to express pain displayed greater facial reactions to pain and rated their pain experience as being more intense than children who did not use words to express their pain., Discussion: Results indicate that many young children do not spontaneously use verbalizations to express pain from immunization. When 5-year-olds use verbalizations to express pain, the verbalizations are most often brief statements that express negative affect and directly pertain to pain. Knowledge of how children verbalize pain may lead to an improved ability to assess and manage pediatric pain.

Effective verbalization of pain requires progressive cognitive development and acquisition of social communication skills. Use of self-report in pediatric pain assessment assumes children have acquired a capacity to understand and use common words to describe pain. The current investigation documented the language most commonly used by young children to describe pain and the age of onset of use of these words. Two complementary research methodologies were employed. Study 1 used the CHILDES database, an aggregated transcript database of multiple research studies examining spontaneous speech development across childhood. Transcripts of 14 randomly selected studies, yielding a total of 245 child participants ranging in age from 1 to 9 years, were searched for seven English primary pain word-stems: 'ache', 'boo-boo', 'hurt', 'ouch', 'ow', 'pain', and 'sore'. Study 2 surveyed 111 parents of children aged 3 to 6 years old concerning words the children commonly used for pain. Parents rated their children's frequency and age of first use of the seven pain word-stems. Both studies indicated that the most frequently used word-stems were 'hurt', 'ouch', and 'ow'. These words first emerged in children's vocabularies as early as 18 months of age. The word-stem 'pain' was used relatively infrequently and gradually emerged in children's vocabularies. The findings indicate that young children rely on a select number of words to describe pain, with these words appearing in children's vocabularies at an early age. These results have implications for developmentally appropriate pain assessment in young children.

Clinicians tend to assign greater weight to nonverbal expression than to patient self-report when judging the location and severity of pain. However, patients can be successful at dissimulating facial expressions of pain, as posed expressions resemble genuine expressions in the frequency and intensity of pain-related facial actions. The present research examined individual differences in the ability to discriminate genuine and deceptive facial pain displays and whether different models of training in cues to deception would improve detection skills. Judges (60 male, 60 female) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 experimental groups: 1) control; 2) corrective feedback; 3) deception training; and 4) deception training plus feedback. Judges were shown 4 videotaped facial expressions for each chronic pain patient: neutral expressions, genuine pain instigated by physiotherapy range of motion assessment, masked pain, and faked pain. For each condition, the participants rated pain intensity and unpleasantness, decided which category each of the 4 video clips represented, and described cues they used to arrive at decisions. There were significant individual differences in accuracy, with females more accurate than males, but accuracy was unrelated to past pain experience, empathy, or the number or type of facial cues used. Immediate corrective feedback led to significant improvements in participants' detection accuracy, whereas there was no support for the use of an information-based training program.

Background: Despite blatant indications, such as behavioural and contextual cues, infant pain is often undermanaged by adult caretakers. The belief that infants are limited in their abilities to comprehend the meaning of an experience or recall that experience has been used to minimize or deny the need for intervention in this vulnerable population., Objectives: This investigation explored parental beliefs regarding the impact of infant cognitive capabilities, behavioural cues and contextual cues to their pain judgments. Particular interest was focused on their beliefs regarding the general cognitive capabilities of infants of different ages., Methods: Forty-nine parents viewed videotapes of healthy infants, aged two, four, six, 12 and 18 months, receiving routine immunization injections and provided judgements of the severity of pain on a 100 mm Visual Analogue Scale. Upon completion of their pain judgements for each of the five age groups (two infants per age group; 10 infants total), parents completed questionnaires regarding their beliefs about the capabilities of infants in that age group and then reported the importance of the various cues utilized to formulate their pain judgements., Results: Parents attributed substantial pain to infants in all age groups, almost twice the amount they hypothesized an adult undergoing a similar injection would experience. The cues rated as most important for judgements were similar for infants of varying ages. Overall, facial expressions, sounds and body movements were consistently reported to be most important. Parents acknowledged the development of memory and understanding of pain throughout infancy. However, these beliefs were not deemed by parents as important to their pain ratings, nor were their importance ratings directly related to the pain ratings., Conclusion: Parents judged that infants undergoing a routine immunization were experiencing clinically significant levels of pain. However, despite generally acknowledging a developing trajectory for memory and understanding across the five age groups, parents did not indicate that a child's ability to remember and understand pain were essential features of their pain judgements. The results indicated that memory and understanding did not influence parental judgements of infant pain demonstrating the validity of the parents' self-assessments.

Objectives: Reduced pain sensitivity is widely reported to be a common feature of children with autism, yet this conclusion frequently has been based on anecdotal observations and questionable measures of pain. The aims of the study were to (1) characterize the behavioral response of children with autism experiencing a venepuncture using objective observational measures of pain and distress, (2) examine parents' assessments of pain behavior in children with and without autism, including comparison of the relationship of parental reports with behavioral measures, and (3) compare the behavioral reactions and parental assessments of children with autism with children without autism undergoing venepuncture., Methods: Pain reactions to the invasive procedure of venepuncture were videotaped, systematically described and compared in 21 children with autism (3-7 years old) and 22 nonimpaired children, the latter providing a chronological age and gender equivalent comparison group. Parents provided observer reports of pain, and facial activity was used as an objective behavioral measure of pain., Results: The children with autism displayed a significant facial pain reaction in response to the venepuncture procedure. There was a lack of concordance between parental reports of pain and observed pain responses for the children with autism. Behavioral responses of the children with autism were generally similar to the comparison group, except the substantial facial pain reactivity instigated by the venepuncture in the children with autism exceeded that displayed by the nonimpaired comparison children. Parent reports of pain severity did not differ between the autism and comparison groups. The degree of concordance between parental report and observed pain responses was consistently better for the comparison group., Discussion: The findings demonstrate that children with autism display a significant behavioral reaction in response to a painful stimulus, and these findings are in sharp contrast to the prevailing beliefs of pain insensitivity described in the literature to date. The findings also raise questions about the appropriateness of parental global report as an assessment tool for pain in children with autism.

The inevitability of pain during infancy and its potential for destructive impact impose a burden on caregiving adults. An armamentarium of effective pharmacological, behavioral and environmental interventions is available if pain were recognized and accurately assessed. Infants have limited behavioral repertoires that make identification of specific needs difficult, mothers and other caregivers prone to high levels of protection and redundant care. But more specific care can best suit infant requirements. Certain behaviors are sensitive to states of distress, including pain, for example, cry and disruption of usual activities such as sleep. Others appear more specific, for example, facial activity. This paper proposes that effective care is best delivered to infants and children if we recognize the complexities of the sociocommunication process; subjective states are encoded in behavioral activity and caregivers must be able to recognize the meaning of these actions. The paper delineates some features of the process whereby caregivers arrive at judgments of infant's needs and make decisions concerning interventions.

Clinicians tend to assign greater weight to non-verbal expression than to patients' self-report when judging the location and severity of pain. Judgments can misrepresent the actual experience because patients can successfully alter their pain expressions. The present research provides a basis for discriminating genuine and deceptive pain expressions by expanding detailed accounts of facial expressions to include previously unexamined variables, including study of temporal patterns and contiguity of facial actions as well as the occurrence of specific deception cues. Low back patients' facial expressions (n=40) were videotaped at rest and while undergoing a painful straight leg raise with instructions to: (1) genuinely express their pain, or (2) pretend that it did not hurt. As well, they were asked to fake pain without moving. The Facial Action Coding System was used to describe and quantify facial activity. The different types of expression were compared on the frequency, type, intensity, temporal pattern and contiguity of facial actions, as well as on the frequency of specific deception cues. Findings confirmed the difficulty of discriminating the facial expressions, but indicated that faked pain expressions show a greater number of pain-related and non-pain-related actions, have a longer peak intensity and overall duration, and the facial actions observed tend to be less temporally contiguous than are those in genuine pain expressions. The differences between masked pain and neutral expressions were subtle, with a greater frequency of mouth opening and residual eyebrow movement in masked pain expressions. Thus, there is an empirical basis for discriminating genuine and deceptive facial displays.

Objective: To provide an experimental investigation of the impact of maternal behavior on children's pain experiences., Method: Participants were 120 healthy children (60 boys, 60 girls) between the ages of 8 and 12 years and their mothers. Mothers were randomly assigned and trained to interact with their children in one of three ways while the children were exposed to lab-induced cold pressor pain: (1) a pain-promoting interaction, (2) a pain-reducing interaction, and (3) a no training control group. Training was based on behaviors presumed to have the expected impact, as based on correlational studies reported in the literature. Children's pain experiences during the cold pressor were assessed using self-reports of intensity and affect, coding of facial activity, tolerance, and heart rate responsiveness., Results: Girls whose mothers interacted with them in the pain-promoting manner reported more pain than daughters of mothers in the control group, who in turn reported more pain than girls whose mothers interacted with them in the pain-reducing manner. This effect was not significant for boys. Maternal interaction type had no effect on children's pain affect, facial activity, tolerance, or heart rate., Conclusions: Results indicate that maternal behavior can have a direct impact on their daughters' subjective reports of pain. These data support the importance of social learning factors in influencing children's pain experiences.

Caretakers intuitively use various sources of evidence when judging infant pain, but the relative importance of salient cues has received little attention. This investigation examined the predictive significance for judgements of painful discomfort in preterm and full-term neonates of behavioural (facial activity and body movement), contextual (invasiveness of the procedure), and developmental (gestational age) information. Judges viewed videotapes showing infants varying in the foregoing characteristics undergoing heel incisions for routine blood sampling purposes. Findings indicated all but the contextual information contributed uniquely to judgements of pain, with facial activity accounting for the most unique variance (35%), followed by bodily activity and gestational age, each accounting for 3% and 1% of the judgmental variance, respectively. Generally, 71% of the variance in ratings of pain could be predicted using facial activity alone, compared to 30% of the variance using bodily activity alone, 19% by relying on context alone, and 8% by referring to gestational age alone. Noteworthy was the tendency to judge early preterm infants to be experiencing less pain even though they were subjected to the same invasive procedure as the older infants. This finding also runs counter to evidence from developmental neurobiology which indicates that preterm newborns may be hypersensitive to invasive procedures.

The impact of invasive procedures on preterm neonates has received little systematic attention. We examined facial activity, body movements, and physiological measures in 56 preterm and full-term newborns in response to heel lancing, along with comparison preparatory and recovery intervals. The measures were recorded in special care and full-term nurseries during routine blood sampling. Data analyses indicated that in all measurement categories reactions of greatest magnitude were to the lancing procedure. Neonates with gestational ages as short as 25-27 weeks displayed physiological responsivity to the heel lance, but only in the heart rate measure did this vary with gestational age. Bodily activity was diminished in preterm neonates in general, relative to full-term newborns. Facial activity increased with the gestational age of the infant. Specificity of the response to the heel lance was greatest on the facial activity measure. Identification of pain requires attention to gestational age in the preterm neonate.

The purpose of this study was to examine the behavioural responses of infants to pain stimuli across different developmental ages. Eighty infants were included in this cross-sectional design. Four subsamples of 20 infants each included: (1) premature infants between 32 and 34 weeks gestational age undergoing heel-stick procedure; (2) full-term infants receiving intramuscular vitamin K injection; (3) 2-month-old infants receiving subcutaneous injection for immunisation against DPT; and (4) 4-month-old infants receiving subcutaneous injection for immunisation against DPT. Audio and video recordings were made for 15 sec from stimulus. Cry analysis was conducted on the first full expiratory cry by FFT with time and frequency measures. Facial action was coded using the Neonatal Facial Action Coding System (NFCS). Results from multivariate analysis showed that premature infants were different from older infants, that full-term newborns were different from others, but that 2- and 4-month-olds were similar. The specific variables contributing to the significance were higher pitched cries and more horizontal mouth stretch in the premature group and more taut tongue in the full-term newborns. The results imply that the premature infant has the basis for communicating pain via facial actions but that these are not well developed. The full-term newborn is better equipped to interact with his caretakers and express his distress through specific facial actions. The cries of the premature infant, however, have more of the characteristics that are arousing to the listener which serve to alert the caregiver of the state of distress from pain.

Evaluation of pain in neonates is difficult due to their limited means of communication. The aim was to determine whether behavioural reactions of cry and facial activity provoked by an invasive procedure could be discriminated from responses to non-invasive tactile events. Thirty-six healthy full-term infants (mean age 2.2 h) received 3 procedures in counterbalanced order: intramuscular injection, application of triple dye to the umbilical stub, and rubbing thigh with alcohol. Significant effects of procedure were found for total face activity and latency to face movement. A cluster of facial actions comprised of brow bulging, eyes squeezed shut, deepening of the naso-labial furrow and open mouth was associated most frequently with the invasive procedure. Comparisons between the 2 non-invasive procedures showed more facial activity to thigh swabbing and least to application of triple dye to the umbilical cord. Acoustic analysis of cry showed statistically significant differences across procedures only for latency to cry and cry duration for the group as a whole. However, babies who cried to two procedures showed higher pitch and greater intensity to the injection. There were no significant differences in melody, dysphonation, or jitter. Methodological difficulties for investigators in this area were examined, including criteria for the selection of cries for analysis, and the logical and statistical challenges of contrasting cries induced by different conditions when some babies do not always cry. It was concluded that facial expression, in combination with short latency to onset of cry and long duration of first cry cycle typifies reaction to acute invasive procedures.

Determinants of perceived control over pain were varied to assess their impact on pain tolerance to electric shock in an experimental setting where variably tolerant models were used to influence pain reports and behaviour. On the basis of locus of control scores, subjects were assigned to internal and external groups. Instructions were presented emphasizing personal or environmental determinants of pain. Fifty subjects were assigned randomly to 5 groups based on these instructions and whether they were paired with a model who was tolerant, intolerant or inactive. Findings indicated internals manifested greater pain tolerance, but that the instructions on situational as contrasted with personal sources of control over pain did not influence pain behaviour. As expected, the models promoted or inhibited exposure to the shocks consistent with the model's role. Subsequent disclosure of the model's roles, followed by further pain tolerance assessment, did not lead to changes in pain behaviour, indicating that the training effect was persistent. The discussion examines relative contributions of individual differences and situational factors to pain behaviour.

Chronic low back pain (CLBP) patients with pain and symptomatology incongruent with physical pathology have been found to have a poorer outcome to medical treatment and rehabilitation, and to use health care resources excessively. To examine possible psychological and behavioral bases for this pattern, this investigation contrasted 40 CLBP patients who displayed non-organic physical signs, inappropriate symptoms, and/or anatomically incongruent pain drawings with 40 'control' CLBP patients without incongruent pain criteria. Multivariate analyses revealed that the incongruent CLBP group reported greater pain intensity and depression, received higher observer ratings of pain, displayed more ambulatory/postural pain behavior, and reported more dysfunctional cognitions during pain. Incongruent CLBP patients also were found to have greater physical impairment and disability. When group differences on physical impairment/disability were controlled statistically, all the afore-mentioned differences disappeared, with one exception. Incongruent CLBP patients still displayed more maladaptive and dysfunctional cognitions. These findings indicate that incongruent CLBP patients may be conceptualized as ineffective and overwhelmed in their attempts to cope and as more physically disabled as a result of their pain. The role of cognitive factors, reasons for failure of physically based interventions, and implications for patient management are discussed.

An empirical determination of the nature and minimum number of dimension necessary to describe responses to the McGill Pain Questionnaire, and a comparison of groups, experiencing clinical or experimentally induced pain, on the dimensions were carried out. Eighty-five patients referred to a low back pain diagnostic clinic and groups of 129 volunteer students exposed to electric shock to pain threshold and pain tolerance levels described their pain using the McGill Pain Questionnaire's descriptive words. An incomplete principle component factor analysis of subjects' ratings suggested that 5 factors should be retained. These factors were judged to reflect: (I) immediated anxiety, (II) perception of harm, (III) somesthetic pressure, (IV) cutaneous sensitivity, and (V) sensory information. Canonical Analysis of Variance and univariate comparisons of back pain, threshold, and tolerance groups on these dimensions were conducted and implications for clinical and laboratory research discussed.

Non-verbal expressive behaviour may provide important information about pain not available through verbal report. Nevertheless, it has received little attention in pain research. In the present study, changes in expressive behaviour resulting from electric shock were related to shock intensity, self-report of discomfort, observers' judgements of subjects' distress and social modelling influences. Subjects were videotaped while they rated low-, medium- and high-intensity shocks. Simultaneously, they were exposed to a tolerant social model or an inactive companion. Observers then viewed videotapes of subjects and judged the level of shock being delivered on the basis of non-verbal behaviour. Observers' judgements were analysed by signal detection methods to quantify expressive behaviour. Change in expressive reactions to the shocks was directly related to stimulus intensity, self-report of pain, and observers' judgements of subjects' distress. Expressive behaviour resulting from high shocks was diminished by exposure to a tolerant model. These findings establish the feasibility of pain measurement based on expressive behaviour, suggest that expressive behaviour provides a sensitive and valid index of pain, and indicate that tolerant modelling reduces evidence of pain across multiple measures.

Pain expression in neonates instigated by heel-lance for blood sampling purposes was systematically described using measures of facial expression and cry and compared across sleep/waking states and sex. From gate-control theory it was hypothesized that pain behavior would vary with the ongoing functional state of the infant, rather than solely reflecting tissue insult. Awake-alert but inactive infants responded with the most facial activity, consistent with current views that infants in this state are most receptive to environmental stimulation. Infants in quiet sleep showed the least facial reaction and the longest latency to cry. Fundamental frequency of cry was not related to sleep/waking state. This suggested that findings from the cry literature on qualities of pain cry as a reflection of nervous system 'stress', in unwell newborns, do not generalize directly to healthy infants as a function of state. Sex differences were apparent in speed of response, with boys showing shorter time to cry and to display facial action following heel-lance. The findings of facial action variation across sleep/waking state were interpreted as indicating that the biological and behavioral context of pain events affects behavioral expression, even at the earliest time developmentally, before the opportunity for learned response patterns occurs. Issues raised by the study include the importance of using measurement techniques which are independent of preconceived categories of affective response.

We present a detailed framework for understanding the numerous and complicated interactions among psychological and social determinants of pain through examination of the process of pain communication. The focus is on an improved understanding of immediate dyadic transactions during painful events in the context of broader social phenomena. Fine-grain consideration of social transactions during pain leads to an appreciation of sociobehavioral events affecting both suffering persons as well as caregivers. Our examination considers knowledge from a variety of perspectives, including clinical health psychology, social and developmental processes, evolutionary psychology, communication studies, and behavioral neuroscience. (Contains 2 figures.)

The biasing effect of pain sensitivity information and the impact of facial activity on observers' judgments of pain intensity of children with autism were examined. Observers received information that pain experience in children with autism is either the same as, more intense than, or less intense than children without autism. After viewing six video clips of children with autism undergoing venepuncture, observers estimated pain intensity using a visual analogue scale. Facial activity as coded by Chambers et al. (Child Facial Action Coding System Revised Manual, 1996) had a significant impact on observers' estimates of pain intensity; pain sensitivity information did not. These results have important implications for the assessment and management of pain in children with autism.

Divided 90 chronic low back pain patients into those who demonstrated signs that were congruent or incongruent with underlying anatomical and physiological principles. Low socioeconomic status, compensation claims, use of opiate analgesics, greater disability, catastrophizing cognitions, stronger emotionality, and passive coping were more characteristic of both acute and chronic incongruent patients than chronic congruent patients. (Author/NB)