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The Social Side Effects of Acetaminophen

Mischkowski, Dominik
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1438081282

Abstract Details

2015, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Psychology.
About 23% of all adults in the US take acetaminophen during an average week (Kaufman, Kelly, Rosenberg, Anderson, & Mitchell, 2002) because acetaminophen is an effective physical painkiller and easily accessible over the counter. The physiological side effects of acetaminophen are well documented and generally mild when acetaminophen is consumed in the appropriate dosage. In contrast, the psychological and social side effects of acetaminophen are largely unknown. Recent functional neuroimaging research suggests that the experience of physical pain is fundamentally related to the experience of empathy for the pain of other people, indicating that pharmacologically reducing responsiveness to physical pain also reduces cognitive, affective, and behavioral responsiveness to the pain of others. I tested this hypothesis across three double-blind between-subjects drug intervention studies. Two experiments showed that acetaminophen had moderate effects on empathic affect, specifically personal distress and empathic concern, and a small effect on empathic cognition, specifically perceived pain, when facing physical and social pain of others. The same two experiments and a third experiment also showed that acetaminophen can increase the willingness to inflict pain on other people, i.e., actual aggressive behavior. This effect was especially pronounced among people low in dispositional empathic concern. Together, these findings suggest that the physical pain system is more involved in the regulation of social cognition, affect, and behavior than previously assumed and that the experience of physical pain and responsiveness to the pain of others share a common neurochemical basis. Furthermore, these findings suggest that acetaminophen has unappreciated but serious social side effects, and that these side effects may depend on psychological characteristics of the drug consumer. This idea is consistent with recent theory and research on the context-dependency of neurochemical processes. Finally, public health and legal implications of the social side effects of acetaminophen are discussed.
Jennifer Crocker, Dr. (Advisor)
Baldwin Way, Dr. (Committee Member)
Brad Bushman, Dr. (Committee Member)
Pyter Leah, Dr. (Committee Member)
68 p.
Behavioral Psychology; Experimental Psychology; Experiments; Health Sciences; Neurosciences; Pharmacology; Psychology; Social Psychology

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Mischkowski, D. (2015). The Social Side Effects of Acetaminophen [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1438081282

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Mischkowski, Dominik. The Social Side Effects of Acetaminophen. 2015. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1438081282.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Mischkowski, Dominik. "The Social Side Effects of Acetaminophen." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2015. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1438081282

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1438081282
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This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.