Factor structure and invariance of the pain catastrophizing scale in patients with chronic pain and their spouses

This study was designed to investigate the equivalency and factor structure of the patients and significant others' version of pain catastrophizing scales in patients with chronic pain and their spouses who are not in pain.

Participants were 142 married couples in which 1 spouse reported chronic musculoskeletal pain. Confirmatory factor analyses were used to compare 4 models of pain catastrophizing, and to examine the invariance of the factor structure of the PCS-Patient version and the PCS-Significant other version in patients with chronic pain and their spouses.

The results indicated that the 2-factor oblique model provided an adequate fit to the data of both patients with chronic pain and their spouses who are not in pain. Moreover, it was found that when gender was controlled, the hypothesized factor structures of the PCS-patient version and the PCS-Significant other version were invariant. Indeed, it was revealed that the PCS-Patient version and the PCS-Significant other version measure the same factors in couples in which 1 of them have a chronic pain condition.

The findings of the current study showed that the 2-factor oblique model is the best fit in both samples (i.e., patients with chronic pain and their spouses). Therefore, it can be suggested that these versions can be used among patients and their spouses and the findings regarding them can be compared. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).