NCT04669093

Individual Differences in Placebo Analgesic Effects

Person by Situation Interaction: Matching Suggestions to Participants' Motivational Styles

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 60 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Trustees of Dartmouth College · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 55 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study examines the effects of placebo suggestions tailored to match or mismatch individual participants' motivational styles-an issue of person-situation 'fit' with important effects in public health settings, but which has been ignored in past research.

Conditions

• Healthy

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Placebo cream- "promotion" suggestion	Over-the-counter hand cream will be applied to participants' skin, but they will be told that they are given a highly efficient topical analgesic cream. The suggestion will be based on a "promotion" approach (promoting good feelings).
BEHAVIORAL	Placebo cream- "prevention" suggestion	Over-the-counter hand cream will be applied to participants' skin, but they will be told that they are given a highly efficient topical analgesic cream. The suggestion will be based on a "prevention" approach (preventing pain).
BEHAVIORAL	Control cream	In a control condition, with the same cream as in the placebo interventions, participants will be instructed that the cream is a control cream with no effects.

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-09-30
• Primary completion: 2027-12-31
• Completion: 2027-12-31
• First posted: 2020-12-16
• Last updated: 2025-12-09

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States