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Chronic Pain (Back / Neck)NCT05513274

Heartache and Backache- An Online Intervention Addressing Emotional and Physical Pain

A study testing Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Written Emotional Disclosure and Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Healthy Habits Disclosure in people with Chronic Pain (Back / Neck), run by Wayne State University at 1 site in United States.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

This study is designed to determine if a brief educational program and a written emotional disclosure task can improve chronic back/neck pain-related outcomes and change pain beliefs and other processes in individuals with chronic back pain. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 18 to 75 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Chronic Pain (Back / Neck)
What is being tested?
Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Written Emotional Disclosure and Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Healthy Habits Disclosure
Could I receive a placebo?
Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
How many people
107 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
15 Dec 2022to 30 Dec 2024
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 18 to 75 years
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • English speaking
  • Chronic musculoskeletal back or neck pain for greater than 1 year as primary symptom complaint
  • Participants living in western countries USA, UK and Australia
  • Have access to a computer or smartphone

Who cannot join

  • Presence of serious disease or impairment (cancer, systemic infection, serious vision impairment)
  • Clear evidence of significant structural damage likely causing their pain (eg, vertebral compression fracture);
  • Being considered for interventional spine procedures (eg, steroidal injections) or surgery;
  • Leg or arm pain more severe than back or neck pain
  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Fibromyalgia
  • Active psychosis

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • The New School for Social Research Department of Psychology

    New York, New York, 48202

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Randomized Clinical Trial of Pain Psychology/Neuroscience and Written Disclosure for Chronic Pain

This study is designed to determine if a brief educational program and a written emotional disclosure task can improve chronic back/neck pain-related outcomes and change pain beliefs and other processes in individuals with chronic back pain.

Individuals will be randomly assigned to an experimental condition (pain and affect neuroscience education) or a control condition (general health activities questionnaire), and then subsequently randomized to a second experimental condition (written emotional disclosure) or a control condition (writing about healthy habits).

Analyses will examine the main and interactive effects of the pain and affect neuroscience education and written emotional disclosure on improved pain-related outcomes at 1-month follow-up. Participants in both the experimental conditions are expected to show more improvement on pain severity, pain interference, psychological distress and psychological attitudes toward pain at follow-up, relative to participants in the control groups.

Read the detailed description

This study will recruit adults with chronic back and neck pain. Participants will be adults between the aged of 18 and 75. Participants will be excluded if they have the presence of serious disease or impairment (cancer, systemic infection, serious vision impairment), if there is clear evidence of significant structural damage likely causing their pain (eg, vertebral compression fracture); being considered for interventional spine procedures (eg, steroidal injections) or surgery; leg or arm pain more severe than back or neck pain; if they have been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis or have active psychosis. Participants will be allowed to engage in this study regardless of current medication use or engagement in other treatment.

Participants who are interested in participating will complete a brief online zoom interview to determine eligibility and will be provided with basic information about the study. Once eligibility has been determined, consent form and, baseline measures will be sent out and completed online.

Participants will be emailed confirming they are still interested in participating. Once they reply, they will complete baseline measures (on-line) and then be randomized 1:1 to the pain psychology and affect neuroscience education intervention or the health behavior intervention. For the pain neuroscience education, participants will complete a 15 to 20-minute on-line exercise that inquires about 5 domains: the degree of central sensitization symptoms, catastrophizing , personality factors, stressors that triggered or exacerbated the pain, and adverse childhood experiences. The health behavior control intervention participants will engage in a 15 to 20-minute on-line exercise examining their health behaviors in five domains: exercise, sleep, diet, hygiene, and social connections.

Once they have completed the first intervention participants will be randomly assigned to the written emotional disclosure task or the healthy behavior-writing task. For the written emotional disclosure task participants will be asked to write for 20 minutes about their very deepest thoughts and feelings about the most traumatic experience of their lives. There will be a 10-minute break and when they return participants will be asked to write again for 20 minutes about how you have come to understand what happened and how you have changed because of the event. The healthy behavior writing task will include writing for 20 minutes a letter to a person of their choosing describing healthy behaviors, a 10 minute break and a second 20 minute writing task describing a time when they performed a healthy behaviors.

Follow-up measures will be administered 5 weeks after the intervention. There will be clinical outcomes assessed that reflect changes in pain severity, pain-related interference and pain catastrophizing. Psychological outcomes that reflect changes in symptoms for depression, anxiety, fatigue and sleep. Finally there will be attitudinal outcomes in stigma around chronic pain and patients' attributions about the role of psychological and brain-based factors in pain and self efficacy.

Being tested
Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Written Emotional Disclosure, Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Healthy Habits Disclosure, Health Behavior Control + Written Emotional Disclosure, Health Behavior Control + Healthy Habits Disclosure
Medical subject headings
Chronic Pain

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Written Emotional DisclosureBehavioural

    A 15 to 20-minute exercise which they examine variables in themselves that suggest that their pain is driven by central nervous system processes. Participants will then write for 20 minutes about their very deepest thoughts and feelings about the most traumatic experience of their lives. A 10-minute break followed by writing again for 20 minutes about how they have come to understand what happened and how they have changed because of the event.

  • Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Healthy Habits DisclosureBehavioural

    This condition is a 15 to 20-minute exercise that patients complete in which they examine variables in themselves that suggest that their pain is driven by central nervous system processes in their brains. Followed by writing for 20 minutes a letter to a person of their choosing describing healthy behaviors, a 10 minute break and then a second 20 minute writing task describing a time when they performed a healthy behavior.

  • Health Behavior Control + Written Emotional DisclosureBehavioural

    This 15 to 20-minute exercise that relates to healthy behaviors. Participants are asked to examine various domains of their own health behavior as engaged in over the past 24 hours (e.g., nutrition, sleep, exercise, hygiene, social connections). Participants will then write for 20 minutes about their very deepest thoughts and feelings about the most traumatic experience of their lives. A 10-minute break followed by writing again for 20 minutes about how they have come to understand what happened and how they have changed because of the event.

  • Health Behavior Control + Healthy Habits DisclosureBehavioural

    This 15 to 20-minute exercise that relates to healthy behaviors. Participants are asked to examine various domains of their own health behavior as engaged in over the past 24 hours (e.g., nutrition, sleep, exercise, hygiene, social connections). Followed by writing for 20 minutes a letter to a person of their choosing describing healthy behaviors, a 10 minute break and then a second 20 minute writing task describing a time when they performed a healthy behavior.

Study groups in NCT05513274
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Pain Psychology Neuroscience+ Written Emotional DisclosureExperimentalPain Neuroscience Education exercise followed by Written Emotional Disclosure
Receives: Behavioral: Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Written Emotional Disclosure
Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Healthy Habits DisclosureActive comparatorPain Neuroscience Education followed by Healthy Habits writing
Receives: Behavioral: Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Healthy Habits Disclosure
Health Behavior + Written Emotional DisclosureActive comparatorHealth behavior education followed by written emotional disclosure
Receives: Behavioral: Health Behavior Control + Written Emotional Disclosure
Health Behavior + Healthy Habits DisclosurePlacebo comparatorHealth behavior intervention followed by healthy habits writing
Receives: Behavioral: Health Behavior Control + Healthy Habits Disclosure

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Brief Pain Inventory Brief Pain Inventory pain severity scale (0 - 10; higher values = greater pain severity)

    Pain severity scale (0 - 10; higher values = greater pain severity)

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

Secondary outcomes (10)
  1. Pain Interference

    PROMIS Pain Interference - Short Form 6b (6-20; higher values= greater pain interference)

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

  2. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System: Depression short form 8b

    Self-reported depression (8-40; higher values= greater severity of depression)

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

  3. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System: Anxiety short form 8a

    Self-reported anxiety (8-40; higher values= greater severity of anxiety)

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

  4. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System: Fatigue

    Self reported fatigue (4-20; higher values= increased fatigue)

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

  5. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System: Sleep

    Self reported sleep (4-20; higher values= increased sleep difficulties)

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

  6. Pain Catastrophizing Scale

    Pain Catastrophizing Scale (Sullivan et al., 1995): A summed score of the 13 Catastrophizing items will be computed (0-52, higher scores indicate greater catastrophizing)

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

  7. Pain attributions questionnaires

    The 4-item psychological attribution scale assesses patients' beliefs that their thoughts and feelings and psychological therapy impacts pain, and the 3-item brain attribution scale assesses patient's beliefs that their pain is brain-based. Higher scores indicate a greater belief that pain is a brain-related [brain attribution] and that pain is affected by thoughts, feelings, and psychological interventions [psychological attribution])

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

  8. Stigma Scale for Chronic Illnesses Short Form (SSCI-8)

    Stigma Scale for Chronic Illnesses short form: A summed score of the 8 items will be computed (8-40m higher scored indicate greater stigma)

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

  9. General Self Efficacy Scale

    General Self Efficacy Scale: A summed score of the 10 items, will be computed (10-40) higher scored indicate greater self efficacy

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

  10. Emotional approach coping scale

    Emotional approach coping scale: A summed score of the 8 items, will be computed (8-32) higher scored indicate greater emotional approach coping

    Measured: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted24 Aug 2022
  2. Study start15 Dec 2022
  3. Primary completion30 Dec 2024
  4. Study completion30 Dec 2024

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Factorial
Model description
This is a 2 by 2 factorial study
Masking
Triple blind
Who is masked
Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
107 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05513274
Sponsor's protocol ID
The New School
Status last verified
Jul 2025
First submitted
22 Aug 2022
Last updated
16 Jul 2025
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No: shared with Lauren Krulis- The New School for Social Research

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Written Emotional Disclosure and Pain Psychology Neuroscience + Healthy Habits Disclosure in people with Chronic Pain (Back / Neck), run by Wayne State University at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 4 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 16 Jul 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Brief Pain Inventory Brief Pain Inventory pain severity scale (0 - 10; higher values = greater pain severity) (time frame: Change from baseline to 5 weeks follow-up). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 16 Jul 2025; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 7 Nov 2026.

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