Influence of Psychosocial Factors on The Experience of Pain Synaesthesia

Pain synaesthesia is a phenomenon in which one can personally feel the pain of another on their own body. This phenomenon has commonly been observed in populations who have experienced prior traumatic injury. However, the influence of psychosocial factors which commonly influence the experience of subjective pain have not been considered. The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of psychosocial factors on the experience of pain synaesthesia. Regression analyses revealed several aspects of empathy (e.g., emotional empathy) were predicative of pain perception ratings in response to painful images. In addition, factors know to increase hypervigilance towards pain cues contributed to the experience of pain synaesthesia in participants with a previous injury. The overall findings suggest empathy may play a central role in the experience of pain synaesthesia while psychosocial factors such as state anxiety and perceived social support might also contribute to the overall experience.M.A