Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39975531›Full record

ArticleJournal of pain research2025

Painfully Sensitive: How Sensory Processing Sensitivity Affects Healthy Adolescents' Perception of Pain.

Jana Hochreuter, Susanne Wehrli, Cosima Locher, Francesca Lionetti, Joe Kossowsky, Michael Pluess, Helen Koechlin

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of pain research, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Jana HochreuterDepartment of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, University Children's Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0009-0008-4120-7127
Susanne WehrliDepartment of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, University Children's Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0003-1790-3890
Cosima LocherDepartment of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry and Psychosomatic Medicine, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Francesca LionettiDepartment of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Sciences, G. d'Annunzio University of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy.
Joe KossowskyDepartment of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Michael PluessSchool of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK.
Helen KoechlinDepartment of Psychosomatics and Psychiatry, University Children's Hospital, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-6680-8027

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: Sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) describes a common trait characterized by lower sensory threshold, depth of processing, and ease of overstimulation. Low sensory threshold is also potentially important in the context of pain. To date, the relationship between SPS and pain perception has not been investigated, particularly in adolescents. This randomized experimental study aimed to explore whether SPS was associated with pain threshold and tolerance in healthy adolescents. Further, we examined differences in pain perception following positive, negative, or neutral mood induction. Methods: A total of 100 healthy adolescents aged 16 to 19 years were recruited through schools and online advertisement. Participants completed psychosocial questionnaires and underwent a randomized mood induction (positive, negative, or neutral). Pain levels (in °C) and self-reported pain tolerance and threshold were assessed by an experimental heat pain paradigm. Regression models were applied to determine effects of mood induction on pain perception, while multiple analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were computed to compare sensitivity across groups. Results: The mood induction significantly influenced self-reported pain ratings, demonstrating a positive interaction coefficient for the positive mood condition ( Conclusion: Our findings reveal that highly sensitive adolescents had the lowest ratings of measured pain tolerance and threshold measures at baseline, suggesting heightened sensitivity to pain. This highlights the importance of considering sensory processing sensitivity in pain research, particularly in adolescent populations.

Indexed as

adolescentsexperimental painsensory processing sensitivity

Identifiers

PMID39975531
PMCPMC11837743

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.