Validation of the Chronic Pain Coping Inventory

Abstract

The Chronic Pain Coping Inventory (CPCI; Jensen, M.P., Turner, J.A., Romano, J.M. and Strom, S.E., The Chronic Pain Coping Inventory: development and preliminary validation, Pain, 60 (1995) 203–216) is a recently developed questionnaire comprising eight main subscales that measure coping strategies that are frequently targeted for change in interdisciplinary pain treatment programs. Preliminary research, carried out by the developers of the CPCI, supports the reliability and validity of the scale. The purpose of the present study was to further examine the validity of the CPCI independently. In the present study, 210 patients were administered the CPCI, along with the Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ; Rosenstiel, A.K. and Keefe, F.J., The use of coping strategies in low back pain patients: relationship to patient characteristics and current adjustment, Pain, 17 (1983) 33–44; Riley III, J.L. and Robinson, M.E., CSQ: five factors or fiction? Clin. J. Pain, 13 (1997) 156–162), and the Multidimensional Pain Inventory (MPI; Kerns, R.D., Turk, D.C. and Rudy, T.E., The West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (WHYMPI), Pain, 23 (1985) 345–356) as part of a pre-admission screening. Principal components analysis with oblique rotation was performed on the 64 main CPCI scale items. An eight-factor solution was identified as most appropriate. The original subscales were generally supported, however, some modifications to scoring of subscales were suggested. As a second step in the study, the relationship between the modified CPCI subscales and the CSQ subscales were examined and their relative ability to predict concurrent adjustment to pain (MPI subscales) was assessed. Results indicated that CPCI subscales tap coping constructs that are conceptually different than the CSQ subscales. Several CPCI subscales were also found to be significantly and uniquely related to measures of concurrent adjustment, even after taking CSQ subscales and demographic and pain-related variables into account. These results suggest the CPCI is a valuable tool, above and beyond established coping measures, in the clinical assessment and research of pain. Directions for future research are discussed.