The Influence of a Personal Values Intervention on Cold Pressor-Induced Distress Tolerance.
A 30-minute values writing task boosts pain tolerance by almost a minute, even when pain feels worse.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Dudley et al. (2019) asked college students to do a 30-minute values exercise.
Right after, each student stuck a hand in ice water for as long as they could.
The team compared how long the values group lasted versus a control group.
What they found
The values group kept their hand in the ice bath about 51 seconds longer.
They felt the same pain, but they tolerated the distress better.
A short writing task boosted real pain tolerance in one shot.
How this fits with other research
Luciano et al. (2010) showed that brief acceptance instructions also cut discomfort, but they used a different script.
Rojahn et al. (2012) found that acceptance coaching helps people with high acceptance, while change coaching helps people with low acceptance.
Dudley et al. (2019) add a new tool: a values exercise works no matter where the person starts.
Lotfizadeh et al. (2020) later showed the same brief idea lowers avoidance in socially anxious students, proving the trick travels beyond ice water.
Why it matters
You can copy the 30-minute values script before tough tasks like blood draws or dental work.
It costs nothing and needs no special gear.
Try it Monday: ask your client to write why the session goal matters to them, then practice a hard exercise right after.
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The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Start the session with a five-minute values write-up, then jump straight into the hardest exercise on the plan.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Research has demonstrated that values and acceptance interventions can increase distress tolerance, but the individual contribution of each remains unclear. The current study examined the isolated effect of a values intervention on immersion time in a cold pressor. Participants randomized to Values (n = 18) and Control (n = 14) conditions completed two cold pressor tasks, separated by a 30-min values or control intervention. Immersion time increased 51.06 s for participants in the Values condition and decreased by 10.79 s for those in the Control condition. Increases in self-reported pain and distress predicted decreases in immersion time for Control, but not Values, participants. The best-fitting model accounted for 39% of the variance in immersion time change. Results suggest that a brief isolated values exercise can be used to improve distress tolerance despite increased perceptions of pain and distress, such that values alone may be sufficient to facilitate openness to difficult experiences.
Behavior modification, 2019 · doi:10.1177/0145445518782402