Social support of virtual characters reduces pain perception.

Autor: Neumann I; Department of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany., Andreatta M; Department of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany., Pauli P; Department of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.; Center of Mental Health, Medical Faculty, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany., Käthner I; Department of Biological Psychology, Clinical Psychology, and Psychotherapy, Institute of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.; Department of Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: European journal of pain (London, England) [Eur J Pain] 2024 May; Vol. 28 (5), pp. 806-820. Date of Electronic Publication: 2023 Dec 13.
DOI: 10.1002/ejp.2220
Abstrakt: Background: Psychosocial factors, such as social support, can reduce pain. Virtual reality (VR) is a powerful tool to decrease pain, but social factors in VR-based pain analgesia have rarely been studied. Specifically, it is unclear whether social support by virtual characters can reduce pain and whether the perceived control behind virtual characters (agency) and varying degrees of social cues impact pain perception.
Methods: Healthy participants (N = 97) received heat pain stimulation while undergoing four within-subject conditions in immersive VR: (1) virtual character with a low number of social cues (virtual figure) provided verbal support, (2) virtual character with a high number of social cues (virtual human) provided verbal support, (3) no social support (hearing neutral words), (4) no social support. Perceived agency of the virtual characters served as between-subjects factor. Participants in the avatar group were led to believe that another participant controlled the virtual characters. Participants in the agent group were told they interacted with a computer. However, in both conditions, virtual characters were computer-controlled. Pain ratings, psychophysiological measurements and presence ratings were recorded.
Results: Virtual social support decreased pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings but had no impact on electrodermal activity nor heart rate. A virtual character with a high number of social cues led to lower pain unpleasantness and higher feelings of presence. Agency had no significant impact.
Conclusions: Virtual characters providing social support can reduce pain independent of perceived agency. A more human visual appearance can have beneficial effects on social pain modulation by virtual characters.
Significance: Social influences are important factors in pain modulation. The current study demonstrated analgesic effects through verbal support provided by virtual characters and investigated modulating factors. A more human appearance of a virtual character resulted in a higher reduction of pain unpleasantness. Importantly, agency of the virtual characters had no impact. Given the increasing use of digital health interventions, the findings suggest a positive impact of virtual characters for digital pain treatments.
(© 2023 The Authors. European Journal of Pain published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Pain Federation ‐ EFIC ®.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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