Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Discomfort Intolerance Scale

Abstract

The current study examined the psychometric properties of the Discomfort Intolerance Scale (DIS; Schmidt, Richey, & Fitzpatrick, 2006), a measure of the inability to withstand uncomfortable physical sensations among 406 young adults (Mage = 20.34, SD = 4.83; 74% female) and two subgroups with and without elevated clinical symptoms. Results indicated relatively low internal consistency reliability and small, but significant, correlations with symptom measures in the full sample and non-symptomatic subgroup, but not in the symptomatic subgroup. None of the tested measurement models fit the data well in the full sample or the symptomatic subgroup. A two-factor model was acceptable in the non-symptomatic subgroup after correcting for multiple errors. These findings suggest that the DIS is not a valid measure of discomfort intolerance among young adults and should be revised and re-examined in future studies.