Coping with pain: A component analysis of Lamaze and cognitive-behavioral procedures

While no significant differences emerged on the respiratory activity factor, the imagery procedure was shown to be more effective than the visual procedure espoused by Lamaze for enhancing subjects' tolerance of ice-water discomfort.

Abstract

In this study an attempt was made to sort out the active ingredients of the Lamaze childbirth technique, and a possible improvement in the form of in-vivo emotive imagery was explored. Seventy female subjects were randomly assigned to one of seven treatment conditions in a 3 (levels of visual activity) × 2 (levels of respiratory activity)+ 1 (no treatment) design. Measures of pain threshold, pain endurance, and self-reported discomfort obtained in the cold pressor task were obtained before and after treatment. While no significant differences emerged on the respiratory activity factor, the imagery procedure was shown to be more effective than the visual procedure espoused by Lamaze for enhancing subjects' tolerance of ice-water discomfort. Implications of these findings for future research are discussed.