experience of vasovagal reactions. This specific project examines the effects of anxiety, pain, and pain catastrophizing on VVR. Given previous literature’s agreement on the strong link between anxiety and VVR, the primary goal was to look at how pain and pain catastrophizing would affect the report of vasovagal symptoms. In concordance with previous research, it was hypothesized that report of higher pre-donation anxiety would lead to greater likelihood of reporting vasovagal symptoms. Similarly, it was hypothesized that participants with higher levels of pain catastrophization would rate the experience as more painful and be more likely to report vasovagal symptoms. Methods Participants Participants for the study were recruited from a larger pool of donors giving at mobile Hema Quebec blood drives in universities and CEGEPs throughout the local Montreal area. Given the location of these blood clinics, most of the participants were young, adolescent students. The study took place at the site of donation. A total of 611 people participated with an age range of 1843 (M= 21.8 years old, SD =3.3 years). The average number of previous donations was 2.8 times. The sample included 321 women and 281 men. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of four treatment conditions: 151 were assigned to the applied muscle tension treatment, 153 were assigned to respiration control, 153 were assigned to combined treatment, and 154 were in the control condition. 91 participants deferred following screenings by Hema-Quebec and were thus unable to participate in the study. Procedure Participants were recruited following the completion of one of several Hema Quebec prescreening tasks. After providing written consent, participants completed a questionnaire
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