Page:Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response (ASMR) - a flow-like mental state.pdf/9



originally reported issues with chronic pain were omitted due to incomplete data. Data analysis was therefore carried out on 45 cases.

Self-report data for before, during, immediately after and 3 h after ASMR were analysed using a one way ANOVA, and were found to significantly differ [F(3, 132) = 13.892, p <0.0005)]. Pairwise comparisons revealed there to be a significant difference in chronic pain symptoms before and during ASMR (p < 0.0005), a difference which was maintained three hours following ASMR (p = 0.014). There was no significant difference between symptoms of chronic pain during and immediately after ASMR (p = 1.00), nor was there a difference between during and 3 h after ASMR (p = 0.21).

Flow state

Fifty cases did not have complete data for the flow state questionnaire, so were removed from analysis. We were interested in whether people who experience the flow state more readily also experience the ASMR state more readily. To examine this we took the sum of each participant’s responses on the flow state questionnaire and correlated this with the total number of ASMR triggers each person reported, from the list of commonly-reported triggers (i.e., whispering, crisp sounds, personal attention, repetitive actions, slow movements, smiling, water pouring). We used a non-parametric Spearman's test, as the trigger data tended to fall into a small number of values. We found a highly significant relationship between flow experience and number of triggers, with greater flow experience being associated with a larger number of triggers [rho = 0.936, p < 0.01]. This relationship is shown in Fig. 3. Barratt and Davis (2015), PeerJ, DOI 10.7717/peerj.851 9/17