Vicarious pain experiences in healthy and chronic pain samples.

Vicarious pain experiences in healthy and chronic pain samples. - SOPA3

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

DRKS

Registry ID

DRKS00039883

Enrollment

1325

Registered

2026-06-26

Start date

2026-07-08

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2026-08-03

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Participants with chronic pain

Interventions

Group 1: Participants with chronic pain fill out questionnaires online about their pain, vicarious pain, empathy and prosocial behavior.

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 80 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: - Fluent in German - Chronic pain (defined as at least 15 pain days per month for the past three months) - Voluntary consent to participate

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: - Regular use of illicit drugs in the past six months (defined as weekly or (nearly) daily use of cocaine, stimulants, inhalants, hallucinogens or narcotics) - Participation in the currently ongoing experimental study with the acronym SOPA1 (DRKS00037736) - Acute infections at the time of study participation (e.g. cold symptoms)

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
This study, which is conducted in the form of an online survey-study, comprises a singular session, to be completed in one run. All questionnaires and variables are collected at a single instance. We will collect the following questionnaires and variables: Vicarious pain will be assessed with the German translation of the VPQ (Vicarious Pain Questionnaire; Grice-Jackson et al., 2017). The VPQ consists of 16 videos of each about 10 seconds, depicting different people in painful situations, as well as accompanying questions. Vicarious pain is primarily classified with the following five scores: - Total Pain Responses: Total amount of vicarious pain experiences across all 16 video observations, with the question “Did you have any bodily pain sensation, while you watched the video?” (yes/no). - Average Intensity: Average felt physical pain intensity while watching the videos, e.g. with the question “Please answer how painful it was for you?” (10-point scale; 1 = slightly painful; 10 = intensely painful). - ‘Localized-minus-Generalized’ score: Captures, if participants perceive their experience of vicarious pain as a more generalized bodily sensation or localized to a specific body part, with the question “Did you feel the pain in a specific location or was it more of an overall, generalized bodily sensation?” (Selection of: “general bodily sensation”, “localized, but not to the same location as the observed pain”, “localized and to the same location as the observed pain”). - 'Sensory-minus-Affective’ score: Captures, if participants rather describe their vicarious pain with affective or sensory descriptors, with the question “Please select from the following list the words that best describe the vicarious physical pain you felt while watching the video.” (Selection of 10 sensory, 10 affective and 3 cognitive descriptors, as well as an open answer field). - Regularity: Frequency in which vicarious pain experiences happen in daily life, e.g. with the question “How regu	—

Measure

Time frame

This study, which is conducted in the form of an online survey-study, comprises a singular session, to be completed in one run. All questionnaires and variables are collected at a single instance. We will collect the following questionnaires and variables: Vicarious pain will be assessed with the German translation of the VPQ (Vicarious Pain Questionnaire; Grice-Jackson et al., 2017). The VPQ consists of 16 videos of each about 10 seconds, depicting different people in painful situations, as well as accompanying questions. Vicarious pain is primarily classified with the following five scores: - Total Pain Responses: Total amount of vicarious pain experiences across all 16 video observations, with the question “Did you have any bodily pain sensation, while you watched the video?” (yes/no). - Average Intensity: Average felt physical pain intensity while watching the videos, e.g. with the question “Please answer how painful it was for you?” (10-point scale; 1 = slightly painful; 10 = intensely painful). - ‘Localized-minus-Generalized’ score: Captures, if participants perceive their experience of vicarious pain as a more generalized bodily sensation or localized to a specific body part, with the question “Did you feel the pain in a specific location or was it more of an overall, generalized bodily sensation?” (Selection of: “general bodily sensation”, “localized, but not to the same location as the observed pain”, “localized and to the same location as the observed pain”). - 'Sensory-minus-Affective’ score: Captures, if participants rather describe their vicarious pain with affective or sensory descriptors, with the question “Please select from the following list the words that best describe the vicarious physical pain you felt while watching the video.” (Selection of 10 sensory, 10 affective and 3 cognitive descriptors, as well as an open answer field). - Regularity: Frequency in which vicarious pain experiences happen in daily life, e.g. with the question “How regu

—

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Further variables, that will be collected using the following questions and questionnaires: - Sociodemographic and background information (e.g. data on menstruation cycles or alcohol- and nicotine consumption). - Several bot- and attention-check variables for the identification of automated and inattentive responses and to ensure data-quality. - To qualify types of chronic pain, questions from the DSF (Deutscher Schmerzfragebogen; Nagel et al., 2002) will be employed, e.g. on pain localization (with an adapted version of item 5, using categories instead of a body diagram, to account for the online format), on pain periodicity (item 8a-c) and on pain quality (Item 10). - Further questions on acute and chronic pain, medication intake and impairment due to pain with the DSF (Deutscher Schmerzfragebogen; Nagel et al., 2002). - Additional questions about vicarious pain with the VPQ (Vicarious Pain Questionnaire; Grice-Jackson et al., 2017), e.g. whether vicarious pain is perceived as helpful or disabling in daily life and whether vicarious pain is rather experienced for loved ones or unspecifically for all people.	—

Measure

Time frame

Further variables, that will be collected using the following questions and questionnaires: - Sociodemographic and background information (e.g. data on menstruation cycles or alcohol- and nicotine consumption). - Several bot- and attention-check variables for the identification of automated and inattentive responses and to ensure data-quality. - To qualify types of chronic pain, questions from the DSF (Deutscher Schmerzfragebogen; Nagel et al., 2002) will be employed, e.g. on pain localization (with an adapted version of item 5, using categories instead of a body diagram, to account for the online format), on pain periodicity (item 8a-c) and on pain quality (Item 10). - Further questions on acute and chronic pain, medication intake and impairment due to pain with the DSF (Deutscher Schmerzfragebogen; Nagel et al., 2002). - Additional questions about vicarious pain with the VPQ (Vicarious Pain Questionnaire; Grice-Jackson et al., 2017), e.g. whether vicarious pain is perceived as helpful or disabling in daily life and whether vicarious pain is rather experienced for loved ones or unspecifically for all people.

—

Countries

Austria, Germany, Switzerland

Contacts

Public ContactHelena Hartmann

Universitätsklinikum Essen, Klinik für Neurologie

helena.hartmann@uk-essen.de+49 (0) 201 723-7309

Outcome results

None listed

Source: DRKS (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Aug 10, 2026