Abstract
Background
Attending towards pain is proposed as a key mechanism influencing the experience and chronification of pain. Persistent attention toward pain is proposed to drive poor outcomes in both adults and children with chronic pain. However, there are no validated self‐report measures of pain‐related attention for children.
Methods
The goals of this study were to adapt the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ) for use in a child sample, to preliminary examine its psychometric properties, and to assess its utility over and above a measure of general attentional capacities. We adapted the language of the PVAQ to be more easily understood by children as young as 8 years. In a sample of 160 children (8‐18 years) with chronic pain, we examined the factor structure, internal consistency, and criterion validity of the PVAQ‐C.
Results
The PVAQ‐C demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α = .92) and moderate‐to‐strong criterion validity. A one‐factor structure best fit the data. Children who reported greater attention to pain also reported greater pain catastrophizing, fear of pain, avoidance of activities, and poorer physical functioning. Pain‐related attention remained a significant predictor of functioning while controlling for demographics, catastrophizing, and fear‐avoidance. Pain‐related attention also significantly predicted child outcomes independent of the child’s general attention control capacities, indicating added value of a pain‐specific measure of attention.
Conclusions
The PVAQ‐C shows strong indices of internal reliability and criterion validity, and indicates unique predictive utility. It will be important to study the role of pain‐related attention in youth within developmental and functional‐motivational frameworks.
from Wiley: European Journal of Pain: Table of Contents https://ift.tt/35GcNPH
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