Positive and negative priming as a factor of bodily sensations in the healthy controls (on the sensations in head and neck)

The paper is devoted to an experimental comparison of two hypotheses of the genesis of bodily sensations in psychosomatics: in accordance with the hypothesis of “general somatic sensitivity”, the key role in somatization is played by the general attention to sensations, whereas in accordance with the concepts of the personal meaning, sensations depend on their subjective meaning. In 36 patients (15 men) without somatic illnesses aged 18 to 25 years, during the task of self-regulation using the biofeedback method, attention was drawn to sensations in the head and neck region with one of three instructions (emphasizing the neutral, positive and negative personal meaning of sensations); then they filled the Screening of Somatoform Symptoms and the Cognitive Beliefs About Body and Health Questionnaire. In 50% of respondents general attention led to sensations in a head and a neck. The risk was higher at the persons inclined to somatization and considering their body as weak and vulnerable. Both positive and negative personal meaning increased the probability of provocation, especially in persons with a tendency to catastrophize bodily sensations. Negative meaning was related to sensations of different localizations.

1. Aleksander F. Psihosomaticheskaja medicina [Psychosomatic Medicine]. Moscow, Jeksmo-Press, 2002. 352 p. (In Russ.).
2. Barsky A.J., Wyshak G. Hypochondriasis and somatosensory amplification. British Journal of Psychiatry, 1990, no. 157, pp. 404—409.
3. Brown R.J. Psychological mechanisms of medically unexplained symptoms: an integrative conceptual model. Psychological Bulletin, 2004, vol. 130, no. 5, pp. 793—812. doi:10.1037/0033-2909.130.5.793
4. Hiller W., Janca A. Assessment of somatoform disorders: a review of strategies and instruments. Acta Neuropsychiatrica, 2003, vol. 15, pp. 167—179. Doi: 10.1034/j.1601-5215.2003.00031.x
5. Krichevec A.N., Korneev A.A., Rasskazova E.I. Matematicheskaja statistika dlja psihologov [Mathematical statistics for psychologists]. Moscow, Publ. centr “Akademija”, 2012. 400 p. (In Russ.).
6. Ma-Kellams C., Blascovich J., McCall, C. Culture and the body: East-West differences in visceral perception. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2012, vol. 102, no. 4, pp. 718—728. doi: 10.1037/a0027010
7. Martinez M.P., Belloch A., Botella C. Somatosensory amplification in hypochondriasis and panic disorder. Clinical Psychology and Psyhotherapy, 1999, vol. 6, pp. 46—53.
8. Mechanic D. The concept of illness behaviour. Journal of Chronic Diseases, 1962, vol. 15, pp. 189—194.
9. Moss-Morris R., Wrapson W. Representational beliefs about functional somatic syndroms In L.D. Cameron, H. Leventhal (Eds.) The self-regulation of health and illness behavior. Routledge, New York, 2003, pp. 119—137.
10. Nikolaeva V.V. Vlijanie hronicheskoj bolezni na psihiku: Psihologicheskoe issledovanie [The effect of chronic illness on the psyche]. Moscow, Publ. Moscow University, 1987. 168 p. (In Russ.).
11. Rasskazova E.I. Rol’ narushenij kognitivnoj i jemocional’noj reguljacii v vozniknovenii somaticheskih simptomov [The role of cognitive and emotional regulation disorders in emergence of somatic symptoms]. Voprosy psihologii [Issues in Psychology], 2013, no. 6, pp. 87—97. (In Russ.).
12. Rasskazova E.I., Gul’dan V.V., Thostov A.Sh. Psihologicheskoe soderzhanie «ipohondricheskogo diskursa»: svjaz’ cennosti zaboty o zdorov’e s otnosheniem k telu, bolezni i lecheniju [Psychlogical meaning of «hypochondriac discourse»: the relationshipbetween values of the health care and cognitive beliefs about body, illness and treatment]. Vestnik JuUrGU. Serija “Psihologija” [Journql JuUrGU. Psychology], 2016, vol. 9, no. 2, pp. 60—70. doi: 10.14529/psy160207 (In Russ.).
13. Rasskazova E.I., Migunova Ju.M. Funkcii somaticheskih simptomov v mezhlichnostnom obshhenii: kul’turno-istoricheskij podhod v psihosomatike [Functions of somatic symptoms in interpersonal communication: a cultural-historical approach to psychosomatics]. Kul’turno-istoricheskaja psihologija [Cross- Cultural Psychology], 2014, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 79—87. (In Russ.).
14. Rief W., Hiller W., Margraf J. Cognitive Aspects of Hypochondriasis and the Somatization Syndrome. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1998, vol. 107, no. 4, pp. 587—595.
15. Seligman M.E.P. Helplessness: On Depression, Development, and Death. San Francisco, W.H. Freeman, 1975.
16. Taylor G.J., Bagby R.M., Parker J.D.A. Disorders of Affect Regulation: Alexithymia in Medical and Psychiatric Illness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1997.
17. Tishhenko P.D. Zhizn’ kak fenomen kul’tury [Life as a cultural phenomena]. Biologija v poznanii cheloveka [Biology in human cognition]. Moscow, 1989, pp. 243—252. (In Russ.).
18. Thostov A.Sh. Psihologija telesnosti [Psychology of physicality]. Moscow, Smysl, 2002. 287 p. (In Russ.).
19. Thostov A.Sh. Bolezn’ kak semioticheskaja sistema [Disease as a semiotic system]. Vestnik MGU. Psihologija [MSU. Psychology], 1993, no. 1, pp. 3—16. (In Russ.).

PlumX

article metrics