Positive Associations between Anticipatory Anxiety and Needle Pain for Subjective but Not for Physiological Measures of Anxiety

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Abstract
So far, the association between anxiety and pain has not been studied with measures tapping a physiological dimension of anxiety. Therefore, during a blood extraction procedure, we recorded subjective anxiety, electrodermal activity, heart rate, and intensity of pain. Subjects were 15 patients with panic disorder and 24 healthy subjects. Positive associations between subjective anxiety and pain were found in each group. The physiological activity preceding the venipuncture, however, was not significantly related to the intensity of the pain.