Dataset for "Headache impairs attentional performance: an extension and replication"

Background
Pain has advantages for our immediate safety, but it also disrupts our ability to perform other tasks that require attention. Multiple previous studies have documented detrimental effects of pain on attention, but the specific nature of the effects is inconsistent. This may be because different studies investigate different types of pain, such as laboratory-induced thermal pain, menstrual pain, or headache. Here, we replicated a study investigating the effect of headache on attention, and extended it by including two additional attention tasks, a broader sample, and measures of affect and pain cognitions. We aimed to see whether the effects of the same type of pain on the same attention tasks would be consistent across studies.

Method
Participants performed five complex attention tasks and a choice reaction time task with and without a naturally occurring headache.

Results
Participants were slower to respond to five of the six attention tasks, and this could be attributed to a slowing in basic processing speed as measured by the choice reaction time task. Participants were also less accurate on a cued switching task.

Conclusions
The pattern of disruption found here, mainly a dampening of processing speed, is again different to previous findings. This suggests that the effect of pain on attention appears to be dynamic, even within a given type of pain. While we can be confident that pain does disrupt attention, we cannot yet predict the specific nature of disruption in any given case.

Subjects:
Psychology

Cite this dataset as:
Attridge, N., Noonan, D., Wainwright, E., Eccleston, C., Keogh, E., 2015. Dataset for "Headache impairs attentional performance: an extension and replication". Bath: University of Bath Research Data Archive. Available from: https://doi.org/10.15125/BATH-00123.

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Creators

Nina Attridge
University of Bath

Donna Noonan
University of Bath

Edmund Keogh
University of Bath

Contributors

University of Bath
Rights Holder

Documentation

Data collection method:

The study followed a repeated measures design across two sessions, in one session participants presented with a headache and in the other they presented headache-free.

Funders

Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare
https://doi.org/10.13039/100013207

BATHTAP: Further Developments in a Test of Attention to Pain

Publication details

Publication date: 2015
by: University of Bath

Version: 1

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15125/BATH-00123

URL for this record: https://researchdata.bath.ac.uk/id/eprint/123

Related papers and books

Attridge, N., Eccleston, C., Noonan, D., Wainwright, E., and Keogh, E., 2017. Headache Impairs Attentional Performance: A Conceptual Replication and Extension. The Journal of Pain, 18(1), 29-41. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpain.2016.09.007.

Contact information

Please contact the Research Data Service in the first instance for all matters concerning this item.

Contact person: Nina Attridge

Departments:

Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences
Health