Differential Strategies in Coping with Pain as a Function of Level of Experiential Avoidance

Participants displaying high versus low levels of experiential avoidance as assessed by the Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (Hayes, Strosahl, et al., 2004) were compared in their reactions to and efforts to cope with pain induced by the cold pressor task. As expected, high avoidant participants were less tolerant of pain and more likely to report using dysfunctional coping strategies, but did not differ from their low avoidant counterparts in their sensitivity to pain nor ratings of its intensity. Implications of the findings for the assessment, further investigation, and conceptualization of experiential avoidance as a possible core pathogenic process are discussed.