Abstract
PurposeThe way individuals attend to pain is known to have a considerable impact on the experience and chronification of pain. One method to assess the habitual “attention to pain” is the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ). With the present study, we aimed to test the psychometric properties of the German version of the PVAQ across pain-free samples and across patients with acute and chronic pain.MethodTwo samples of pain-free individuals (student sample (N = 255)/non-student sample (N = 362)) and two clinical pain samples (acute pain patients (N = 105)/chronic pain patients (N = 36)) were included in this cross-sectional evaluation of the German PVAQ. Factor structure was assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Reliability was assessed using internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha). Construct validity was tested by assessing correlations between PVAQ and theoretically related constructs.ResultsExploratory factor analysis (non-student sample) and confirmatory factor analysis (student sample, acute pain patient sample) suggested that a two-factor solution best fitted our data (“attention to pain,” “attention to changes in pain”). Internal consistency ranged from acceptable to good in all four samples. As hypothesized, the PVAQ correlated significantly with theoretically related constructs in all four samples, suggesting good construct validity in pain-free individuals and in pain patients.ConclusionThe German PVAQ shows good psychometric properties across samples of pain-free individuals and patients suffering from pain that are comparable to PVAQ versions of other languages. Thus, the German PVAQ seems to be a measure of pain vigilance equally valid as found in other countries.
Highlights
It is well known that the way a person is attending to pain can have a direct effect on the experience of pain at that given moment but might contribute to the development of chronic pain [1,2,3]
The present study investigated the psychometric properties of the German version of the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ) (PVAQ)
We investigated the psychometric properties of the PVAQ in samples of pain-free individuals and in patients suffering from pain using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses as well as analyses on internal consistency and construct validity
Summary
It is well known that the way a person is attending to pain can have a direct effect on the experience of pain at that given moment but might contribute to the development of chronic pain [1,2,3]. Pain patients who are highly attentive to pain have been found to engage in fewer productive activities and report greater levels of distress, disability, anxiety, and depression [1]. A person’s degree of attention to pain is of great clinical relevance. In order to assess the habitual Battention to pain,^ McCracken developed the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ [1]). The original English version is a 16-item self-report questionnaire measuring the frequency of self-monitored and self-reported attentional habits with the focus on pain and changes in pain over the past 2 weeks. The psychometric properties of the PVAQ were first tested in a sample of chronic low back pain patients, with satisfactory reliability, good internal consistency, and good validity outcomes [1].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
