J Walsh

Pain communication through body posture: The development and validation of a stimulus set

&NA; This study reports the creation and validation of a stimulus set of affective body postures that includes pain. &NA; Pain can be communicated nonverbally through facial expressions, vocalisations, and bodily movements. Most studies have focussed on the facial display of pain, whereas there is little research on postural display. Stimulus sets for facial and vocal expressions of pain have been developed, but there is no equivalent for body‐based expressions. Reported here is the development of a new stimulus set of dynamic body postures that communicate pain and basic emotions. This stimulus set is designed to facilitate research into the bodily communication of pain. We report a 3‐phase development and validation study. First 16 actors performed affective body postures for pain, as well as happiness, sadness, fear, disgust, surprise, anger, and neutral expressions. Second, 20 observers independently selected the best image stimuli based on the accuracy of emotion identification and valence/arousal ratings. Third, to establish reliability, this accuracy and valence rating procedure was repeated with a second independent group of 40 participants. A final set of 144 images with good reliability was established and is made available. Results demonstrate that pain, along with basic emotions, can be communicated through body posture. Cluster analysis demonstrates that pain and emotion are recognised with a high degree of specificity. In addition, pain was rated as the most unpleasant (negative valence) of the expressions, and was associated with a high level of arousal. For the first time, specific postures communicating pain are described. The stimulus set is provided as a tool to facilitate the study of nonverbal pain communication, and its possible uses are discussed.

Sex differences in the decoding of pain-related body postures

Pain can be detected through nonverbal cues, including facial expressions, vocalisations, and body posture. While there are sex differences in how emotional expressions are recognized, these differences have not always been found for pain. One reason for this inconsistency may be methodological, as pain studies tend not to be designed to investigate individual differences in expression recognition. Also, few studies consider sex differences outside facial expression.

Working conditions and stress in the English education system

Background The UK education sector has among the highest level of stress sickness absence of all occupations. However, investigations of psychosocial working conditions which contribute to stress, including behaviour of students and parents, has not been conducted. Aims To investigate the psychosocial working conditions and prevalence of negative parental and student behaviour in a large sample of school teachers and college lecturers based in England. In addition, to assess the influence of working conditions, student behaviour and parental behaviour on perceived stress. Methods A cross-sectional survey of teachers in England. Respondents completed the Management Standards Indicator Tool (MSIT), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-4), Student Behaviour Scale and a two-item measure of parental behaviour. Differences in these measures across different teaching roles were assessed using analysis of variance. Regression analyses were used to evaluate the association of MSIT, student and parental behaviour on PSS outcomes. Results Compared to UK benchmark scoring, psychosocial working conditions were at a poor level, with primary teachers in particular exposed to negative parental behaviours, and secondary teachers to poor student behaviour. Demands were consistently associated with perceived stress outcomes across job roles, although management support and relationships with peers also played a part. Conclusions Demands faced by teachers in England played an important part in the experience of stress. Interventions to reduce these demands, and the high frequencies of negative pupil and parental behaviours, should be considered.