Key result
Self-compassion was associated with lower experimental pain when high-frequency heart rate variability was higher, but showed an inverse relationship when it was lower.
Why the study?
Trait self-compassion relates to psychological well-being in chronic pain and HF-HRV associates with pain coping, prompting investigation into how HF-HRV impacts the relationship between self-compassion and experimental pain.
Does high-frequency heart rate variability moderate the relationship between self-compassion and experimental pain in healthy participants?
Cross-Sectional (n=60)
Does high-frequency heart rate variability moderate the relationship between self-compassion and experimental pain in healthy participants?
High-frequency heart rate variability moderates the relationship between self-compassion and experimental pain, suggesting physiological states influence psychological pain coping mechanisms.
Self-compassion and HF-HRV links in healthy volunteers require patient validation; leaves open relevance to chronic pain.
One previous study indicated the significance of trait self-compassion in psychological well-being and adjustment in people with chronic pain. Higher-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) was found to be closely associated with self-compassion and pain coping. The current study was therefore designed to investigate the relationship between self-compassion and experimental pain as well as the impact of HF-HRV. Sixty healthy participants provided self-reported self-compassion and underwent a cold pain protocol during which HF-HRV was evaluated. Results demonstrated a dual relationship between self-compassion and pain, dependent on the level of HF-HRV during pain exposure. Specifically, self-compassion was associated with lower pain in the condition of higher HF-HRV, while there was an inverse relationship between self-compassion and pain when HF-HRV was lower. Our data indicate the significance of HF-HRV in moderating the association between self-compassion and experimental pain.
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Tian et al. (2020) conducted a cross-sectional in Healthy (n=60). Self-compassion and High-Frequency Heart Rate Variability (HF-HRV) was evaluated on Experimental pain during a cold pain protocol. Self-compassion was associated with lower experimental pain when high-frequency heart rate variability was higher, but showed an inverse relationship when it was lower.
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