Measuring Pain-related Behavioral Inhibition and Behavioral Activation System Responses: Further Validity Evidence...

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Pain Management
• Psychometrics

Background:

• The Pain Responses Scale Short Form (PRS-SF) assesses affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses to pain.
• It is based on the behavioral inhibition system (BIS) and behavioral activation system (BAS) model of chronic pain.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the psychometric properties of the PRS-SF in a new sample of chronic pain patients.
• To confirm the PRS-SF's utility in assessing BIS and BAS responses to pain.

Main Methods:

• A sample of 190 Spanish adults with chronic non-cancer pain completed a translated PRS-SF.
• Participants also completed questionnaires measuring sensitivity to punishment, sensitivity to reward, pain intensity, pain interference, catastrophizing, and pain acceptance.

Main Results:

• Confirmatory factor analysis supported a 4-factor structure for the PRS-SF (despondent, escape, approach, relaxation).
• Internal consistency was adequate to good for three scales and marginal for the relaxation scale.
• Associations between PRS-SF scores and validity criteria supported the instrument's validity.

Conclusions:

• The PRS-SF demonstrates validity for its four scales and adequate reliability for three.
• The PRS-SF can be used to test the BIS-BAS model of chronic pain.
• It can help elucidate how BIS and BAS responses mediate psychological pain treatment effects.