A study on the role of selective attention, vigilance and ambivalence over emotional expressiveness for predicting pain severity in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pains

Introduction: When there is a pain requiring focused clinical attention and is associated with emotional and functional disorders, it is called pain disorder. The present study aims to study the role of selective attention, vigilance and ambivalence over emotional expressiveness for predicting pain severity in patients with chronic musculoskeletal pains. Methods: The study population included 180 patients with chronic musculoskeletal entered the study by accessible method sampling from 2 hospitals in Tehran (Iran): Imam Khomeini and Atyeh. They completed Selective Attention Test, questionnaires for Vigilance and Ambivalence over emotional expressiveness and Pain severity Scale. Results: Step-by-step multivariate regression analysis showed that ambivalence can significantly predict emotional expressiveness in patients with selective attention and vigilance were not significant. Conclusion: In musculoskeletal chronic pain, ambivalence can be considered as an emotional determinant influencing pain severity.