Open AccessPain Beliefs Predict Pain Intensity and Pain Status in Children: Usefulness of the Pediatric Version of the Survey of Pain Attitudes
Author(s) -
Miró Jordi,
Huguet Anna,
Jensen Mark P.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
pain medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.893
H-Index - 97
eISSN - 1526-4637
pISSN - 1526-2375
DOI - 10.1111/pme.12316
Subject(s) - cronbach's alpha , medicine , reliability (semiconductor) , physical therapy , clinical psychology , predictive validity , intervention (counseling) , psychometrics , psychiatry , power (physics) , physics , quantum mechanics
Objective Pain attitudes and beliefs are hypothesized to influence pain and adjustment to pain. Valid and reliable measures of these beliefs are necessary to test their hypothesized associations with outcomes. The Pediatric version of the Survey of Pain Attitudes ( P eds‐ SOPA ) is a new measure with limited evidence regarding its psychometric properties. This study sought to: 1) evaluate the predictive validity, reliability, and factor structure of the P eds‐ SOPA ; and 2) determine if there are sex‐ or age‐related differences in children's attitudes toward pain. Design Longitudinal study. Participants Five hundred and sixty‐one schoolchildren between 8 and 16 years old participated in this study. Results Factor analyses supported the seven‐factor structure described by the original authors. The P eds‐ SOPA showed acceptable reliability with Cronbach alpha values ranging from 0.68 to 0.80. The P eds‐ SOPA scales also demonstrated prospective predictive validity via their associations with pain intensity, and pain status at 1‐year follow‐up. The findings also showed some few sex‐ and age‐specific differences in the P eds‐ SOPA scores. Conclusions The current findings provide additional support for the reliability and validity of the P eds‐ SOPA , and suggest that children's pain attitudes and beliefs might be important intervention targets in pain treatment.