5 The three groups did not differ in cortisol at baseline and did not differ in any of the baseline characteristics [all p 's > 0.05], except for a borderline significant effect of sex [ χ 2 1, N = 37 = 5.89, p = 0.05].
A significant correlation between the pain threshold difference t 55 – t baseline and trait anxiety was found (STAI‐Y2: r = −0.37, p = 0.02), and correlations approaching significance with fear of pain and state anxiety (FPQ: r = −0.30, p = 0.07; HADS‐A: r = −0.28, p = 0.09).
The pain threshold difference t 70 – t baseline correlated significantly with delta cortisol ( r = 0.34; p = 0.03) and anxiety (DASS‐A, r = −0.37; p = 0.02) and correlations with trait anxiety (STAI‐Y2; r = −0.28; p = 0.07), fear of pain (FPQ; r = −0.30; p = 0.06) and HADS anxiety ( r = −0.29; p = 0.07) approached significance.
We should note here that this effect was revealed by planned comparisons per group and subsequent Bonferroni‐corrected post hoc comparisons, while the interaction effect failed to reach significance.