Pediatric Pain Beliefs Questionnaire: Psychometric Properties of the Short Form

Abstract Cognitive appraisals inform and shape individuals’ pain experiences. As researchers examine mechanisms of cognitive behavioral interventions for chronic pain, psychometrically sound measures based in cognitive theory are needed to directly assess pain beliefs. The Pain Beliefs Questionnaire (PBQ), a 32 item self-report measure informed by coping and appraisal theory, was designed to assess children’s pain threat appraisals, problem-focused pain coping efficacy, and emotion-focused pain coping efficacy. The present study aimed to 1) create a short form of the PBQ and 2) evaluate the psychometric properties of the reduced measure in a large database of pediatric patients with functional abdominal pain (FAP; n = 871). Item reduction analyses identified an 18-item short form of the PBQ (PBQ-SF) that exhibited similar psychometric properties to the original measure. All three subscales of the PBQ-SF exhibited strong internal consistency (α’s ranged from 0.79-0.80) and adequate test-retest reliability at two weeks. Evidence for construct validity was provided by examining patterns of partial correlations for each subscale. The PBQ-SF represents a valid and reliable measure for evaluating children’s pain beliefs. Future studies should investigate the treatment sensitivity of the PBQ-SF in order to evaluate its appropriateness for use in clinical trials. Perspective This article presents the psychometric properties of a reduced 18-item version of a measure utilized to assess children’s pain beliefs in a large sample of children with functional abdominal pain. This measure could help identify processes and individual differences underlying children’s responses to psychological treatments for chronic pain.