Is idiopathic chronic pain a matter of emotional granularity? An exploratory study among vulvodynia sufferers.

Vulvodynia is a form of idiopathic chronic pain (ICP) quite prevalent among the female population. Nevertheless, so far it has received limited scientific attention. Recent speculation suggests that emotional granularity (EG) may act as a potential mechanism for ICP, yet its role remains empirically unexplored. Using a contingent-event design, this study aims at investigating the association between EG and pain intensity in vulvodynia sufferers. Focusing on time-lagged effects, we hypothesize that EG at one moment predicts pain intensity at the next moment both within and between persons. Sixty females with a recent diagnosis of vulvodynia will participate in a 1-month diary study. For each pain episode, participants will be asked to rate pain intensity, and to report their affective experience using a set of 14 negative affective adjectives. Multilevel modelling with observations nested within individuals will be used to examine associations between momentary EG at one moment and pain intensity at the next moment. Lagged momentary EG and the number of pain episodes will be added as covariates. Concerning results, we expect that higher EG at one moment will be associated with lower pain intensity at the next moment. Moreover, we expect that individuals reporting consistently higher EG across time will also report lower pain intensity on average. This study may provide new evidence about EG as an underlying mechanism of ICP. Furthermore, the study examines an overlooked pain condition such as vulvodynia, shedding light on a prevalent yet insufficient studied chronic condition.