Anxiety sensitivity and anxiety as correlates of expected, experienced and recalled labor pain

Abstract

There has been a good deal of research on the role of anxiety sensitivity in pain perception, but only recently have investigators begun to assess its role in labor pain. The aim of this study was to investigate the nature of this relationship as well as the relationship of state and trait anxiety with labor pain. Assessments of maximum and average labor pain were completed in three different time periods (before, during and immediately after labor, and 1 month postpartum). Anxiety and anxiety sensitivity measures were completed during the late stage of pregnancy. A total of 46 primiparous healthy pregnant women, carrying a single child, participated in the study. State anxiety correlated significantly with maximum (r = 0.352, p < 0.01) and average (r = 0.325, p < 0.05) labor pain expectancies, whereas trait anxiety correlated significantly with maximum labor pain expectancies (r = 0.306, p < 0.05). During labor, only the physical concerns dimension of anxiety sensitivity shared a significant relationship with sensory pain (r = 0.292, p < 0.05). In conclusion, anxiety shares a significant relationship with labor pain expectancies only, whereas the physical concerns dimension of anxiety sensitivity correlates significantly with sensory pain during labor. These data clarify the role of anxiety and anxiety sensitivity in the experience of labor pain. Clinical implications are discussed.

Keywords::

• anxiety
• anxiety sensitivity
• childbirth
• pain

Declaration of interest: This study was performed as part of the larger project “Anxiety and Depression in Life-long Perspective”, funded by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport of the Republic of Croatia.

Current knowledge on this subject

• We reviewed the available literature and observed that only a single study investigated the role of anxiety sensitivity in labor pain. The study suggested that anxiety sensitivity, rather than trait anxiety significantly predicts labor pain intensity. We also encountered rather inconsistent data regarding the role of trait anxiety in pain expectancies. Namely, some studies found that trait anxiety correlated significantly with pain expectancies, while other implied it as a correlate of actual pain intensities.

What this study adds

• This is the first study that investigated the role of trait and state anxiety and anxiety sensitivity in expected, experienced and recalled labor pain. The results suggest that anxiety is related to labor pain expectancies, while anxiety sensitivity physical concerns dimension shares a significant relationship with actual sensory labor pain. The findings from this research emphasize the role of anxiety sensitivity in the perception of labor pain and it has potential role in recalled labor pain.