@article{levesque-lacasse_relationship_2024,

title = {The Relationship Between the Ability to Infer Another's Pain and the Expectations Regarding the Appearance of Pain Facial Expressions: Investigation of the Role of Visual Perception},

author = {A. Lévesque-Lacasse and M. -C. Desjardins and D. Fiset and C. Charbonneau and S. Cormier and C. Blais},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85171357836&doi=10.1016%2fj.jpain.2023.08.007&partnerID=40&md5=dcfeb2e0eb9f13b42122ddfcbc987fc0},

doi = {10.1016/j.jpain.2023.08.007},

issn = {15265900},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Pain},

volume = {25},

number = {1},

pages = {250–264},

abstract = {Although pain is a commonly experienced and observed affective state, it is frequently misinterpreted, which leads to inadequate caregiving. Studies show the ability at estimating pain in others (estimation bias) and detecting its subtle variations (sensitivity) could emerge from independent mechanisms. While estimation bias is modulated by variables such as empathy level, pain catastrophizing tendency, and overexposure to pain, sensitivity remains unimpacted. The present study verifies if these 2 types of inaccuracies are partly explained by perceptual factors. Using reverse correlation, we measured their association with participants' mental representation of pain, or more simply put, with their expectations of what the face of a person in pain should look like. Experiment 1 shows that both parameters are associated with variations in expectations of this expression. More specifically, the estimation bias is linked with expectations characterized by salient changes in the middle face region, whereas sensitivity is associated with salient changes in the eyebrow region. Experiment 2 reveals that bias and sensitivity yield differences in emotional representations. Expectations of individuals with a lower underestimation tendency are qualitatively rated as expressing more pain and sadness, and those of individuals with a higher level of sensitivity as expressing more pain, anger, and disgust. Together, these results provide evidence for a perceptual contribution in pain inferencing that is independent of other psychosocial variables and its link to observers’ expectations. Perspective: This article reinforces the contribution of perceptual mechanisms in pain assessment. Moreover, strategies aimed to improve the reliability of individuals’ expectations regarding the appearance of facial expressions of pain could potentially be developed, and contribute to decrease inaccuracies found in pain assessment and the confusion between pain and other affective states. © 2023 United States Association for the Study of Pain, Inc.},

note = {Publisher: Elsevier B.V.},

keywords = {anger, article, chronic pain, disgust, emotion, Emotions, Empathy, Estimation bias, expectation, eyebrow, Facial Expression, Facial expressions of pain, human, Humans, mental representation, Mental representations, motivation, Pain, pain assessment, psychology, questionnaire, reliability, reproducibility, Reproducibility of Results, Reverse correlation, sadness, sensitivity, vision, Visual Perception},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{bekes_trainee_2022,

title = {Trainee Therapists’ Perceptions of a Blended Intervention to Promote Resilience after a Natural Disaster: A Qualitative Case Study},

author = {V. Békés and G. Belleville and J. Lebel and M. -C. Ouellet and Z. Chen and C. M. Morin and N. Bergeron and T. S. Campbell and S. Ghosh and S. Bouchard and S. Guay and F. P. MacMaster},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85136961448&doi=10.3390%2fjcm11154361&partnerID=40&md5=9705da30150789ca11a9c7719d221dac},

doi = {10.3390/jcm11154361},

issn = {20770383},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Journal of Clinical Medicine},

volume = {11},

number = {15},

abstract = {Background: Natural disasters happen in an increased frequency, and telemental health interventions could offer easily accessible help to reduce mental health symptoms experienced by survivors. However, there are very few programs offered to natural disaster survivors, and no research exists on therapists’ experiences with providing blended interventions for natural disaster survivors. Aims: Our qualitative case study aims to describe psychologists’ experiences with an online, therapist-assisted blended intervention for survivors of the Fort McMurray wildfires in Alberta, Canada. Method: The RESILIENT intervention was developed in the frames of a randomized controlled trial to promote resilience after the Fort McMurray wildfires by providing survivors free access to a 12-module, therapist-assisted intervention, aiming to improve post-traumatic stress, insomnia, and depression symptoms. A focus group design was used to collect data from the therapists, and emerging common themes were identified by thematic analysis. Results: Therapists felt they could build strong alliances and communicate emotions and empathy effectively, although the lack of nonverbal cues posed some challenges. The intervention, according to participating therapists, was less suitable for participants in high-stress situations and in case of discrepancy between client expectations and the intervention content. Moreover, the therapists perceived specific interventions as easy-to-use or as more challenging based on their complexity and on the therapist support needed for executing them. Client engagement in the program emerged as an underlying theme that had fundamental impact on alliance, communication, and ultimately, treatment efficiency. Therapist training and supervision was perceived as crucial for the success of the program delivery. Conclusions: Our findings provided several implications for the optimalization of blended interventions for natural disaster survivors from our therapists’ perspective. © 2022 by the authors.},

note = {Publisher: MDPI},

keywords = {adult, Alberta, article, case study, Depression, emotion, Empathy, expectation, female, human, insomnia, natural disaster, perception, personal experience, posttraumatic stress disorder, psychological resilience, psychotherapist, qualitative analysis, survivor, thematic analysis, therapeutic alliance, wildfire, Young Adult},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{plouffe-demers_facial_2022,

title = {Facial Expression of Pain: Sex Differences in the Discrimination of Varying Intensities},

author = {M. -P. Plouffe-Demers and C. Saumure and D. Fiset and S. Cormier and C. Blais},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85138214204&doi=10.1037%2femo0001156&partnerID=40&md5=d5063c7ab05722c16694952ac5d53027},

doi = {10.1037/emo0001156},

issn = {15283542 (ISSN)},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Emotion},

volume = {23},

number = {5},

pages = {1254–1266},

abstract = {It has been proposed that women are better than men at recognizing emotions and pain experienced by others. They have also been shown to be more sensitive to variations in pain expressions. The objective of the present study was to explore the perceptual basis of these sexual differences by comparing the visual information used by men and women to discriminate between different intensities of pain facial expressions. Using the data-driven Bubbles method, we were able to corroborate the woman advantage in the discrimination of pain intensities that did not appear to be explained by variations in empathic tendencies. In terms of visual strategies, our results do not indicate any qualitative differences in the facial regions used by men and women. However, they suggest that women rely on larger regions of the face that seems to completely mediate their advantage. This utilization of larger clusters could indicate either that women integrate simultaneously and more efficiently information coming from different areas of the face or that they are more flexible in the utilization of the information present in these clusters. Women would then opt for a more holistic or flexible processing of the facial information, while men would rely on a specific yet rigid integration strategy. © 2022 American Psychological Association},

note = {Publisher: American Psychological Association},

keywords = {adult, article, controlled study, data-driven methods, effect size, Empathy, Facial Expression, facial expressions, female, human, human experiment, information processing, male, normal human, Pain, pain intensity, qualitative research, sample size, sex difference, sex differences, vision, visual acuity, visual information, Visual Perception},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{boutet_criminality_2022,

title = {Criminality labelling influences reactions to others’ pain},

author = {I. Boutet and J. -C. Goulet-Pelletier and S. Maslouhi and D. Fiset and C. Blais},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85144950088&doi=10.1016%2fj.heliyon.2022.e12068&partnerID=40&md5=99b82ededc48e7fba9d5d234fd98962d},

doi = {10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12068},

issn = {24058440 (ISSN)},

year  = {2022},

date = {2022-01-01},

journal = {Heliyon},

volume = {8},

number = {12},

abstract = {Disparities in healthcare for underrepresented and stigmatized groups are well documented. Current understanding is that these inequalities arise, at least in part, from psychosocial factors such as stereotypes and in-group/out-group categorization. Pain management, perhaps because of the subjective nature of pain, is one area of research that has spearheaded these efforts. We investigated how observers react to the pain of individuals labelled as criminals. Face models expressing pain of different levels of intensity were portrayed as having committed a crime or not (control group). A sample of n = 327 college students were asked to estimate the intensity of the pain expressed by face models as well as their willingness to help them. Trait empathy was also measured. Data was analyzed using regression, mediation and moderation analyses. We show for the first time that observers were less willing to help individuals with a criminal history. Moreover, a moderation effect was observed whereby empathic participants were more willing to help control face models compared to less empathic participants. However, criminality history did not influence participant's pain estimation. We conclude that negative stereotypes associated with criminality can reduce willingness to help individuals in pain even when pain signals are accurately perceived. © 2022},

note = {Publisher: Elsevier Ltd},

keywords = {Criminality, Empathy, Healthcare inequalities, Pain, Psychosocial influences},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{bouchard_empathy_2013,

title = {Empathy toward virtual humans depicting a known or unknown person expressing pain},

author = {S. Bouchard and F. Bernier and E. Boivin and S. Dumoulin and M. Laforest and T. Guitard and G. Robillard and J. Monthuy-Blanc and P. Renaud},

url = {https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84872559512&doi=10.1089%2fcyber.2012.1571&partnerID=40&md5=842f525f29c1000eca7ba5c4b9140ddd},

doi = {10.1089/cyber.2012.1571},

issn = {21522723 (ISSN)},

year  = {2013},

date = {2013-01-01},

journal = {Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking},

volume = {16},

number = {1},

pages = {61–71},

abstract = {This study is about pain expressed by virtual humans and empathy in users immersed in virtual reality. It focuses on whether people feel more empathy toward the pain of a virtual human when the virtual human is a realistic representation of a known individual, as opposed to an unknown person, and if social presence is related to users' empathy toward a virtual human's pain. The 42 participants were immersed in virtual reality using a large immersive cube with images retro projected on all six faces (CAVE-Like system) where they can interact in real time with virtual characters. The first immersion (baseline/control) was with a virtual animal, followed by immersions involving discussions with a known virtual human (i.e., the avatar of a person they were familiar with) or an unknown virtual human. During the verbal exchanges in virtual reality, the virtual humans expressed acute and very strong pain. The pain reactions were identical in terms of facial expressions, and verbal and nonverbal behaviors. The Conditions by Time interactions in the repeated measures analyses of variance revealed that participants were empathic toward both virtual humans, yet more empathic toward the known virtual human. Multivariate regression analyses revealed that participants' feeling of social presence - impression that the known virtual character is really there, with them - was a significant predictor of empathy. © Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.},

keywords = {Adolescent, adult, article, computer interface, Computer Simulation, Empathy, Facial Expression, female, human, Humans, male, Middle Aged, MLCS, MLOWN, Object Attachment, object relation, Pain, psychological aspect, questionnaire, Questionnaires, User-Computer Interface},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}