title: 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 (n = 871). Item reduction analyses identified an 18-item short form of the PBQ (PBQ-SF) that exhibited psychometric properties similar to the original measure. All 3 subscales of the PBQ-SF exhibited strong internal consistency (α levels ranged from .79 to .80) and adequate test-retest reliability at 2 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 to evaluate its appropriateness for use in clinical trials.
  
  
  
  This article presents the psychometric properties of a reduced 18-item version of a measure used 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Amanda L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee. Electronic address: lynn.walker@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Lynn S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Kelsey T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Laird
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, North Park University, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Kezia C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Shirkey
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Craig A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003469:Culture; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012923:Social Class; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Chronic pain; cognitive appraisal; functional abdominal pain; measure development; pain coping