Using Digital Art and Attachment Priming in a Web-Based Serious Game to Reduce Pain and Social Disconnection in Individuals With Chronic Pain and Loneliness: Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Arts engagement using virtual reality and serious games represent promising nonpharmacological self-management treatment approaches to chronic pain. This study is the first randomized controlled trial to explore the impact of a web-based serious game that simulated a visit to an art museum on pain and social disconnection among individuals living with chronic pain and loneliness.

Objective: This study aimed to test the joint and separate effects of exposure to digital art and attachment figure priming on pain and social disconnection among individuals living with chronic pain and loneliness.

Methods: This randomized controlled trial used a 2 (digital artwork present and absent) × 2 (secure attachment and avoidant attachment prime) repeated measures factorial web-based experimental design with a hanging control condition. Mediation and moderation analyses examined how feelings about the social world triggered by the artwork and frequency of museum visits impacted the effects of the interventions on pain and social disconnection.

Results: The results are based on 308 participants. Mean age of the participants was 42.78 (SD 13.11; range 18-76) years, and 60.2% (n=186) were women. Posttest pain was lower than pretest pain for the artwork present (P=.001) and absent (P=.001) conditions. Similarly, posttest pain was lower than pretest pain for the secure (P=.001) and avoidant (P=.001) attachment priming conditions. Relative to the control group, artwork present (P=.001) and absent (P=.01) conditions had decreased posttest pain. The secure (P=.001) and avoidant (P=.001) attachment priming conditions also had lower posttest pain scores relative to the control group. Moreover, social disconnection decreased from pre- to posttest for both the artwork present (P=.04) and the secure attachment priming (P=.002) conditions. Relative to the control group, posttest social disconnection was lower for the artwork present (P=.02) and secure attachment priming condition (P=.03). The artwork-secure attachment (P=.001) and artwork-avoidant attachment (P=.006) conditions had lower posttest pain scores compared with the control group. Social disconnection decreased from pre- to posttest for the artwork-secure attachment (P=.01) and no artwork-secure attachment (P=.05) conditions. Posttest social disconnection was lower for the artwork-secure attachment condition compared with the control group (P=.04). Positive feelings about the social world triggered by artwork exposure and frequency of museum visits in the last year played a mediating and moderating role in these effects. Positive feelings about the social world were associated with decreased pain (B=-.53) and social disconnection (B=-.25), and these effects operated on individuals exposed to digital artwork at low, medium, and high frequency of physical museum visits.

Conclusions: Relative to a control group, visiting a web-based art museum reliably decreased pain and social disconnection among individuals living with chronic pain and loneliness. Engaging with digital artwork that triggers positive feelings about the social world may mitigate the burden of chronic pain.