Acevedo and Aron [24] used a factor analysis to examine
obsession-related characteristics in Hatfield and
Sprecher’s 30-item PLS [5] while investigating the differences
between early- and long-term relationships. The
obsessive quality of passionate romantic love was characteristic
of young relationships and generally did not
persist as a relationship became long term. It is therefore
not known if partner cues would elicit profound analgesia
in long-term relationships. Nor is it known if the relationship
between preoccupation with the partner and analgesia
would persist beyond the early stages of a romantic
relationship. As we used a different (15-item) version of the
scale in our study, we were unable to conduct the
same factor analysis or use a subset of the PLS to
assess preoccupation.