In a series of experiments, Yeung and colleagues found that participants who merely possessed an object framed as having a particular function or benefit experienced an elevation of their self-efficacy in a corresponding domain. For example, participants who possessed reading materials regarded themselves as more knowledgeable. This is because people are inclined to associate themselves with the objects they possess, whose attributes are thus incorporated as part of the self. This mere possession effect also extends to the area of placebo analgesia.
Previous placebo analgesic research typically showed pain reduction after using a placebo analgesic. However, a newly emerged line of research demonstrated that sometimes, people who were merely given possession of a placebo analgesic, without using it, already reported better pain outcomes. This is presumably attributable to the mere possession of the object that enables them to believe they have already received the intended benefit of using it. In Yeung, Geers, and Colloca's study, they found that merely possessing a placebo analgesic yielded placebo analgesia similar to a situation where a placebo analgesic was actually used. The researchers claimed that this observed possession effect was due to the positive expectancy derived from owning a placebo analgesic, i.e., participants expected that the owned placebo analgesic could bring benefits to them.
The finding of the above-mentioned possession-based placebo analgesic effect is encouraging as it can inform healthcare practitioners and physicians about the possibility of tailoring, forming, or optimizing their medical intervention strategies to enhance positive pain outcomes and novel pain management. For instance, practitioners, clinicians, and dentists could consider tailoring their therapeutic interaction and treatment by incorporating an appropriate possession procedure to reduce undesired negative pain outcomes. In this proposed project, the investigators attempt to apply a possession procedure to child patients prior to their treatment that would induce pain.
The investigators hypothesize that acquiring the ownership of a first-aid bandage would contribute to pain alleviation by enhancing children's self-efficacy to cope with pain. The investigators expect that children who receive a first-aid bandage prior to injection would report a lower level of estimated pain (before injection) and lower real-time pain intensity and severity (during injection) than children who do not receive the first-aid bandage prior to the injection.
