Introduction Pain catastrophizing is defined as a tendency to exaggerate and interpret pain-related experiences in a negative way, and it is associated with the expectation of negative outcomes in ambiguous situations (Parkerson et al., 2013; Sharpe, Johnson, & Dear, 2014). Considering the association between pain catastrophizing and pain-related fear, it is likely that pain catastrophizing can be also considered responsible for persistence of chronic pain (Khatibi, Schrooten, Vancleef, & Vlaeyen, 2014). In addition, pain catastrophizing may have a communal coping function that is chronic pain patients may catastrophize about pain to elicit more support from their significant others, for instance, their spouses (M. J. Sullivan et al., 2001).
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The existence of pain catastrophizing thoughts among family caregivers has been shown to be related to a higher level of attentional bias among family member to pain-related information (Mohammadi et al., 2012). In addition, higher pain catastrophizing among significant others is related to higher estimation of pain level in patients and manifesting more pain-related fear (Vervoort et al., 2011). Family caregivers who catastrophize more about patients’ pain condition are more likely to get involved in more pain-attending behaviors (Caes, Vervoort, Trost, & Goubert, …show more content…
While this measure has also been used in different studies, including several studies among Iranian population (e.g., (Mohammadi et al., 2012), but the equivalency of this measure with the PCS-Patient version has not been addressed in the literature. Thus, the current study first aims to investigate the factor structure of the PCS-Patient version and the PCS-Significant Other versions in patients with chronic pain and their spouses, and second aims to determine whether the two versions of the PCS (i.e., Patient version and the Significant Other version) measure the same content across patients and their spouses in a sample of Iranian
The existence of pain catastrophizing thoughts among family caregivers has been shown to be related to a higher level of attentional bias among family member to pain-related information (Mohammadi et al., 2012). In addition, higher pain catastrophizing among significant others is related to higher estimation of pain level in patients and manifesting more pain-related fear (Vervoort et al., 2011). Family caregivers who catastrophize more about patients’ pain condition are more likely to get involved in more pain-attending behaviors (Caes, Vervoort, Trost, & Goubert, …show more content…
While this measure has also been used in different studies, including several studies among Iranian population (e.g., (Mohammadi et al., 2012), but the equivalency of this measure with the PCS-Patient version has not been addressed in the literature. Thus, the current study first aims to investigate the factor structure of the PCS-Patient version and the PCS-Significant Other versions in patients with chronic pain and their spouses, and second aims to determine whether the two versions of the PCS (i.e., Patient version and the Significant Other version) measure the same content across patients and their spouses in a sample of Iranian