{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,26]],"date-time":"2026-10-26T18:29:13Z","timestamp":1793039353173,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,29]],"date-time":"2021-04-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1619654400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/termsAndConditions#vor"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["European Journal of Pain"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2021,8]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title><jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Distraction tasks that place continuous, high demand on executive resources have been shown to reduce pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings in some healthy adult samples. We examined the effects of a high\u2010demand \u2018working memory\u2019 1\u2010back task compared to a low\u2010demand \u2018motor control\u2019 task on pain intensity and unpleasantness ratings in healthy children. Additionally, dispositional mindfulness was examined to explore the mechanisms of distraction on the affective processing of pain.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>Fifty\u2010seven children (9\u201313\u00a0years old) experienced three randomly presented heat levels (not painful, slightly painful, moderately painful) during two distraction conditions involving different levels of cognitive load (a high load \u2018working memory\u2019 task and a low load \u2018motor\u2019 control task) in counter\u2010balanced order. Children completed measures of dispositional mindfulness, and attentional control and emotional control.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>As predicted, children's pain intensity and pain unpleasantness ratings were lower in the high load condition compared to the low load condition. These differences were amplified in the moderately painful heat trials. In contrast with predictions, dispositional mindfulness did not significantly predict the effectiveness of distraction. Dispositional mindfulness was significantly related to measures of children's attentional and emotional control abilities; however, an exploratory serial mediation model did not produce significant indirect or overall effects to suggest a strong influence of mindfulness on the effectiveness of distraction.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Results demonstrate that distraction that places higher demand on executive resources is more effective for acute pain management for children. Further research is needed to explore cognitive and affective moderators of the effectiveness of distraction for children.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Significance<\/jats:title><jats:p>This study is one of the first to demonstrate that working\u2010memory engagement can attenuate pain intensity and pain unpleasantness in children aged 9\u201313. The findings suggest that distraction tasks used in clinical settings for moderately painful medical procedures may benefit more children if they are adequately demanding of cognitive resources.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1002\/ejp.1770","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,3,23]],"date-time":"2021-03-23T17:35:26Z","timestamp":1616520926000},"page":"1568-1582","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":21,"title":["Cognitive load and the effectiveness of distraction for acute pain in children"],"prefix":"10.1002","volume":"25","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1697-1800","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wendy M.","family":"Gaultney","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology University of Maryland Baltimore County MD USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lynnda M.","family":"Dahlquist","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology University of Maryland Baltimore County MD USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Raimi L.","family":"Quiton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychology University of Maryland Baltimore County MD USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,4,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_9_2_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1093\/brain\/awf022"},{"key":"e_1_2_9_3_1","first-page":"1846","article-title":"Differential effects on the laser evoked potential of selectively attending to pain localisation versus pain unpleasantness","volume":"115","author":"Bentley D. 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