European journal of pain (London, England)
February 1, 2025
Elena Robles, Iván Blanco, Gustavo Díez et al.
4 citations
A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program improved depression, anxiety, stress, pain acceptance, well-being, and life satisfaction in people with chronic pain. Thirty-two participants with no prior mindfulness experience were randomly assigned to an MBSR group or a waiting list. Before the program, participants showed attentional biases toward pain-related stimuli. After MBSR, psychological symptoms improved, but attentional patterns changed little; only gaze duration across all stimuli increased. The limited attentional change raises questions about the mechanisms behind the psychological benefits. This was the first study to use eye-tracking to examine MBSR's effect on attention in chronic back pain.
European journal of pain (London, England)
April 1, 2026
Edward Walsh, Kayleigh Hart, Bettina Forster
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 11 trials involving 1,153 people with fibromyalgia (1,097 women) found that Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) does not significantly reduce pain severity compared with active control treatments, updating earlier guidance from 2013. MBSR did produce small improvements in quality of life at both short and long term follow up, and reduced pain catastrophising at long term follow up. Effects on pain severity and depression were only significant at short term follow up versus passive control. The certainty of evidence ranged from very low to moderate. The results suggest a lasting, mindfulness-specific mechanism that improves quality of life without directly reducing pain.
European journal of pain (London, England)
May 1, 2026
Cynthia Harbeck-Weber, Sammy T Murad, Neha Ramachandran et al.
Mindfulness-based interventions for adolescents with chronic pain are associated with improvements in pain intensity, catastrophizing, acceptance, interference, functioning, quality of life, depression, and anxiety, with moderate to large effect sizes at follow-up. A systematic review and meta-analysis of 14 studies including 323 adolescents found significant within-group improvements across all outcomes, though heterogeneity was moderate to high and certainty low due to risk of bias and pre-post designs. Variable-length interventions showed greater pre-post changes than standardized long interventions. Rigorous randomized controlled trials are needed to substantiate these results.
European journal of pain (London, England)
May 1, 2026
Michael M Morgan, Christa M Hickey
Inflammatory pain, induced by CFA injection in rats, reduced wheel running. Twice-daily THC injections (3 mg/kg) further decreased running in both sexes, with tolerance developing more strongly in males. No spontaneous withdrawal was observed over six days, nor any effect on body weight. The absence of withdrawal contrasts with previous opioid findings where pain enhanced morphine withdrawal. Persistent inflammatory pain does not alter the effects of repeated THC in male or female rats; THC's use for pain is limited by side effects and tolerance but not by dependence-related withdrawal.
European journal of pain (London, England)
January 1, 2026
Michelle Hamani, Daniel Ciampi de Andrade, Lisandra Stein Bernardes
Foetuses in the second to third trimester may feel pain and exhibit different shades of consciousness, challenging the binary view of consciousness as simply present or absent. Advances in 4D ultrasound enable assessment of foetal facial expressions indicative of pain, leading to specialized foetal pain behaviour scales. Targeted hand movements, MEG, and EEG provide evidence of goal-directedness and action planning, while learning paradigms like habituation suggest preliminary memory and higher-order cognition. This position paper reviews current research on foetal pain behaviour and awareness, arguing that foetuses may possess levels of awareness and responsiveness necessary for pain perception.