Is self-reported childhood abuse history associated with pain perception among healthy young women and men?
Fillingim RB; Edwards RR University of Florida College of Dentistry and Gainesville VA Medical Center, Gainesville, FL 32610-0404, USA. rfillingim@dental.ufl.edu OBJECTIVE: A self-reported history of childhood physical and/or sexual abuse is frequently reported among chronic pain populations and has been associated with poorer adjustment to pain. In addition, self-reported abuse history has been related to increased pain complaints in population-based studies. One possible explanation for the association between abuse and clinical pain is that abuse victims may display enhanced sensitivity to painful stimuli, which increases the risk of developing clinical pain. However, the limited evidence addressing this issue has been mixed. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between self-reported history of childhood sexual or physical abuse and experimental pain responses in a nonclinical sample of generally healthy young adults. DESIGN: Participants were 110 (56 female, 54
