Is Social Status Linked to Pain Sensitivity Responses for Latinx-Americans? The Role of Social Mobility

Abstract

Latinx Americans within the United States (U.S.) disproportionately experience significant chronic pain severity and lower social status. However, little is known about how social status interacts with pain sensitivity mechanisms to contribute to later pain severity for Latinx Americans. Therefore, the current study examined the relationship between social status and pain sensitivity among Latinx adults. Self-identified U.S. native Latinx and non-Hispanic White (NHW) university students without acute or chronic pain were recruited from a larger study examining Latinx American pain sensitivity. Participants completed self-report objective and subjective (i.e., perceived social standing in the U.S.) social status measures during adulthood and childhood. Social mobility was also calculated (i.e., change in social status across the lifespan). Participants completed an ascending thermal-heat laboratory pain assessment involving four heat pulses at low, moderate, and high intensities, verbally rating their pain on a 11-point numerical rating scale after each pulse. Among Latinx Americans, analyses revealed that neither income nor subjective social status during childhood or adulthood were significantly associated with pain responses. However, increases in subjective social mobility (i.e., upward changes in subjective social status across the lifespan from childhood to present day) correlated with lower pain responses to moderate and high intensity heat among Latinx Americans. No significant relationships were observed among NHWs. This study adds to the developing work bringing awareness to social status’ complexity and its role in chronic pain inequities. The current findings suggest that increases in subjective social mobility may be protective, while decreases in subjective social mobility may be a risk factor for future chronic pain severity. Though replication and longitudinal assessment is warranted, the present findings highlight the merit of focusing further attention on the interplay between social status, social mobility, and pain sensitivity to better understand and inform interventions to reduce pain severity concerns among Latinx Americans.