Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri.
Department of Neurosurgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri.
J Pain. 2023 Aug;24(8):1423-1433. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2023.03.010. Epub 2023 Apr 3.
Despite the marked increase in ecological momentary assessment research, few reliable and valid measures of momentary experiences have been established. The goal of this preregistered study was to establish the reliability, validity, and prognostic utility of the momentary Pain Catastrophizing Scale (mPCS), a 3-item measure developed to assess situational pain catastrophizing. Participants in 2 studies of postsurgical pain outcomes completed the mPCS 3 to 5 times per day prior to surgery (N = 494, T = 20,271 total assessments). The mPCS showed good psychometric properties, including multilevel reliability and factor invariance across time. Participant-level average mPCS was strongly positively correlated with dispositional pain catastrophizing as assessed by the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (r = .55 and .69 in study 1 and study 2, respectively). To establish prognostic utility, we then examined whether the mPCS improved prediction of postsurgical pain outcomes above and beyond one-time assessment of dispositional pain catastrophizing. Indeed, greater variability in momentary pain catastrophizing prior to surgery was uniquely associated with increased pain immediately after surgery (b = .58, P = .005), after controlling for preoperative pain levels and dispositional pain catastrophizing. Greater average mPCS score prior to surgery was also uniquely associated with lesser day-to-day improvement in postsurgical pain (b = .01, P = .003), whereas dispositional pain catastrophizing was not (b = -.007, P = .099). These results show that the mPCS is a reliable and valid tool for ecological momentary assessment research and highlight its potential utility over and above retrospective measures of pain catastrophizing. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents the psychometric properties and prognostic utility of a new measure to assess momentary pain catastrophizing. This brief, 3-item measure will allow researchers and clinicians to assess fluctuations in pain catastrophizing during individuals' daily lives, as well as dynamic relationships between catastrophizing, pain, and related factors.
尽管生态瞬时评估研究显著增加，但很少有可靠和有效的瞬时体验测量方法得到确立。本预注册研究的目的是确立瞬时疼痛灾难化量表（mPCS）的可靠性、有效性和预后实用性，mPCS 是一种 3 项测量工具，用于评估情境性疼痛灾难化。在 2 项术后疼痛结果研究中，参与者在手术前每天完成 mPCS 3 到 5 次（N=494，T=20271 次总评估）。mPCS 显示出良好的心理测量特性，包括多层次可靠性和随时间的因子不变性。参与者水平的平均 mPCS 与通过疼痛灾难化量表（研究 1 和研究 2 中的 r 分别为.55 和.69）评估的特质性疼痛灾难化呈强烈正相关。为了确立预后实用性，我们然后检查了在手术前瞬时疼痛灾难化的多次评估之外，mPCS 是否能提高对术后疼痛结果的预测。事实上，手术前瞬时疼痛灾难化的变异性越大，与手术后立即增加的疼痛（b=0.58，P=0.005）相关，在控制了术前疼痛水平和特质性疼痛灾难化后。手术前较高的平均 mPCS 分数也与术后疼痛的日常改善较小（b=0.01，P=0.003）相关，而特质性疼痛灾难化则不然（b=-0.007，P=0.099）。这些结果表明，mPCS 是生态瞬时评估研究中一种可靠和有效的工具，并突出了其在回顾性疼痛灾难化测量之外的潜在实用性。观点：本文介绍了一种新的评估瞬时疼痛灾难化的测量工具的心理测量特性和预后实用性。这种简短的 3 项测量工具将使研究人员和临床医生能够评估个体日常生活中疼痛灾难化的波动，以及灾难化、疼痛和相关因素之间的动态关系。
