Browsing by Subject "prayer"

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    An experimental investigation of the relationships among race, prayer, and pain
    (De Gruyter, 2018-05) Meints, Samantha M.; Mosher, Catherine E.; Rand, Kevin L.; Ashburn-Nardo, Leslie; Hirsh, Adam T.; Psychology, School of Science
    Background and aims Compared to White individuals, Black individuals demonstrate a lower pain tolerance. Research suggests that differences in pain coping strategies, such as prayer, may mediate this race difference. However, previous research has been cross-sectional and has not determined whether prayer in and of itself or rather the passive nature of prayer is driving the effects on pain tolerance. The aim of this study was to clarify the relationships among race, prayer (both active and passive), and pain tolerance. Methods We randomly assigned 208 pain-free participants (47% Black, 53% White) to one of three groups: active prayer (“God, help me endure the pain”), passive prayer (“God, take the pain away”), or no prayer (“The sky is blue”). Participants first completed a series of questionnaires including the Duke University Religion Index, the Coping Strategies Questionnaire-Revised (CSQ-R), and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Participants were then instructed to repeat a specified prayer or distractor coping statement while undergoing a cold pressor task. Cold pain tolerance was measured by the number of seconds that had elapsed while the participant’s hand remained in the cold water bath (maximum 180 s). Results Results of independent samples t-tests indicated that Black participants scored higher on the CSQ-R prayer/hoping subscale. However, there were no race differences among other coping strategies, religiosity, or catastrophizing. Results of a 2 (Race: White vs. Black)×3 (Prayer: active vs. passive vs. no prayer) ANCOVA controlling for a general tendency to pray and catastrophizing in response to prayer indicated a main effect of prayer that approached significance (p=0.06). Pairwise comparisons indicated that those in the active prayer condition demonstrated greater pain tolerance than those in the passive (p=0.06) and no prayer (p=0.03) conditions. Those in the passive and no prayer distractor conditions did not significantly differ (p=0.70). There was also a trending main effect of race [p=0.08], with White participants demonstrating greater pain tolerance than Black participants. Conclusions Taken together, these results indicate that Black participants demonstrated a lower pain tolerance than White participants, and those in the active prayer condition demonstrated greater tolerance than those in the passive and no prayer conditions. Furthermore, Black participants in the passive prayer group demonstrated the lowest pain tolerance, while White participants in the active prayer group exhibited the greatest tolerance. Results of this study suggest that passive prayer, like other passive coping strategies, may be related to lower pain tolerance and thus poorer pain outcomes, perhaps especially for Black individuals. On the other hand, results suggest active prayer is associated with greater pain tolerance, especially for White individuals. Implications These results suggest that understanding the influence of prayer on pain may require differentiation between active versus passive prayer strategies. Like other active coping strategies for pain, active prayer may facilitate self-management of pain and thus enhance pain outcomes independent of race. Psychosocial interventions may help religiously-oriented individuals, regardless of race, cultivate a more active style of prayer to improve their quality of life.
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    The role of prayer in race differences in pain sensitivity
    (2017-07-12) Meints, Samantha M.; Hirsh, Adam
    Compared to White individuals, Black individuals demonstrate a lower tolerance for experimental pain. Previous studies also suggest that prayer mediates the race difference in pain tolerance such that Black individuals pray more than White individuals with praying being associated with decreased pain tolerance. However, prayer as it has been studied in relation to pain is a passive coping strategy. Therefore, it is unclear whether prayer in and of itself is driving this relationship or whether it is due to the passive nature of the prayer. The purpose of the current study was to examine the interaction between prayer and race on experimental pain tolerance. Healthy undergraduates were randomly assigned to one of three prayer groups: active prayer, passive prayer, and no prayer. Participants were instructed to continually repeat a specified prayer while undergoing a cold pressor task measuring pain tolerance. Results of a 2 (Race: White vs. Black) X 3 (Prayer: active vs. passive vs. none) between-subjects ANOVA indicated there were no significant main effects of race [F(1,202) = 1.01; p = .32] or prayer [F(2,202) = 1.99; p = .14] on tolerance and no race X prayer interaction [F(2,202) = .37; p = .69]. However, a visual inspection of the means trended in the expected direction with those engaged in active prayer demonstrating longer tolerance (M = 53.77; SD = 49.96) than those engaged in passive prayer (M = 40.94; SD = 36.11) and no prayer (M = 41.63; SD = 40.84). These results suggest that the nature of prayer may influence its effect on pain outcomes. This is consistent with the literature which suggest that, compared to passive strategies, active coping strategies are associated with improved pain outcomes. These results may inform psychosocial pain treatments, especially for individuals who endorse the use of prayer as a coping strategy. Providers may consider encouraging patients to adopt a more active style of prayer in order to facilitate pain self-management.