Synonyms
Short Description or Definition
Pain is defined by the International Association for the Study of Pain as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in terms of such damage” (International Association for the Study of Pain 1994). Neuropathic pain is described as pain that occurs in the peripheral or central nervous system (Bennett 2010). On the other hand, psychogenic/psychosomatic pain is defined as pain stemming from psychological or behavioral factors (Taylor 2008).
Categorization
Pain is typically categorized as either acute or chronic (Straub 2014). Acute pain lasts for fewer than 6 months and typically responds to treatment, whereas chronic pain lasts longer than 6 months. Chronic pain can be constant, intermittent, and/or progressive. Furthermore, there are a myriad pain conditions from fibromyalgia to complex regional pain syndrome to trigeminal neuralgia, among others.
Epidemiology
Based on...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References and Readings
Bennett, M. I. (2010). Neuropathic pain (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
DeGood, D. E., & Tait, R. C. (2001). Assessment of pain beliefs and pain coping. In D. C. Turk & R. Melzack (Eds.), Handbook of pain assessment (pp. 320–345). New York: Guilford Press.
Dworkin, S. F., & Sherman, J. J. (2001). Relying on objective and subjective measures of chronic pain: Guidelines for use and interpretation. In D. C. Turk & R. Melzack (Eds.), Handbook of pain assessment (pp. 619–638). New York: Guilford Press.
Ernst, E., Lee, M. S., & Choi, T. (2011). Acupuncture: Does it alleviate pain and are there serious risks? A review of reviews. Pain, 152(4), 755–764. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pain.2010.11.004.
International Association for the Study of Pain. (1994). Part III: Pain terms: A current list with definitions and notes on usage. In Merskey & Bogduk (Eds.), Classification of chronic pain (2nd ed., pp. 209–214). Seattle: IASP Press.
Jacob, M. C., & Kerns, R. D. (2001). Assessment of the psychosocial context of the experience of chronic pain. In D. C. Turk & R. Melzack (Eds.), Handbook of pain assessment (pp. 362–384). New York: Guilford Press.
Jensen, M. P., & Karoly, P. (2001). Self-report scales and procedures for assessing pain in adults. In D. C. Turk & R. Melzack (Eds.), Handbook of pain assessment (pp. 15–34). New York: Guilford Press.
Jensen, M. P., & Karoly, P. (2008). Survey of pain attitudes: Professional manual. Lutz: Psychological Assessment Resources.
Lutgendorf, S. K., Lang, E. V., Berbaum, K. S., Russell, D., Berbaum, M. L., Logan, H., et al. (2007). Effects of age on responsiveness to adjunct hypnotic analgesia during invasive medical procedures. Psychosomatic Medicine, 69, 191–199.
Melzack, R. (1975). The McGill pain questionnaire: Major properties and scoring methods. Pain, 1, 277–299.
Melzack, R., & Wall, P. D. (1965). Pain mechanisms: A new theory. Science, 150, 971–979.
Nahin, R. L. (2015). Estimates of pain prevalence and severity in adults: United States, 2012. The Journal of Pain, 16, 769–780.
Price, D. D., Riley, J. L., III, & Wade, J. B. (2001). Psychophysiological approaches to the measurement of the dimensions and stages of pain. In D. C. Turk & R. Melzack (Eds.), Handbook of pain assessment (pp. 53–76). New York: Guilford Press.
Robinson, M. E., Riley, J. L., Myers, C. D., Sadler, I. J., Kvall, S. A., Geisser, M. E., & Keefe, F. J. (1997). The coping strategies questionnaire: A large sample item level factor analysis. Clinical Journal of Pain, 13, 43–49.
Straub, R. O. (2014). Health psychology: A biopsychosocial approach (4th ed.). New York: Worth.
Taylor, S. E. (2008). Health psychology (7th ed.). Boston: McGraw Hill.
Tsui, S. L., Chen, P. P., & Ng, K. F. J. (2010). Pain medicine: A multidisciplinary approach. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Stutts, L. (2018). Pain. In: Kreutzer, J., DeLuca, J., Caplan, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Clinical Neuropsychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_2060-2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56782-2_2060-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-56782-2
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences