I am a
Home I AM A Search Login

Papers of the Week


Papers: 5 Sep 2020 - 11 Sep 2020

RESEARCH TYPE:
Psychology


Human Studies


2020 Aug 25


Drug Alcohol Depend


215

Episodic future thinking reduces chronic pain severity: A proof of concept study.

Authors

Craft WH, Tegge AN, Bickel WK
Drug Alcohol Depend. 2020 Aug 25; 215:108250.
PMID: 32889451.

Abstract

Chronic pain is a major public health challenge in the United States and around the world. Current treatments including opioid analgesics and cognitive behavioral therapy possess harmful side effects or limited efficacy, respectively. Chronic pain is associated with a variety of unhealthy behaviors including opioid misuse. Moreover, individuals who suffer from chronic pain exhibit excessive discounting of delayed rewards, suggesting a constricted temporal window of valuation. Reductions in the excessive discounting of delayed rewards has been achieved with Episodic Future Thinking (EFT; vividly imagining realistic future events). EFT has also been associated with reductions in a variety of unhealthy behaviors. In this study, the effects of EFT on delay discounting and levels of pain were investigated in individuals reporting chronic pain.