title: Psychometric Properties of the German Version of the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ) in Pain-Free Samples and Samples with Acute and Chronic Pain.
abstract: The way individuals attend to pain is known to have a considerable impact on the experience and chronification of pain. One method to assess the habitual "attention to pain" is the Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ). With the present study, we aimed to test the psychometric properties of the German version of the PVAQ across pain-free samples and across patients with acute and chronic pain.
  
  
  
  Two samples of pain-free individuals (student sample (N = 255)/non-student sample (N = 362)) and two clinical pain samples (acute pain patients (N = 105)/chronic pain patients (N = 36)) were included in this cross-sectional evaluation of the German PVAQ. Factor structure was assessed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Reliability was assessed using internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha). Construct validity was tested by assessing correlations between PVAQ and theoretically related constructs.
  
  
  
  Exploratory factor analysis (non-student sample) and confirmatory factor analysis (student sample, acute pain patient sample) suggested that a two-factor solution best fitted our data ("attention to pain," "attention to changes in pain"). Internal consistency ranged from acceptable to good in all four samples. As hypothesized, the PVAQ correlated significantly with theoretically related constructs in all four samples, suggesting good construct validity in pain-free individuals and in pain patients.
  
  
  
  The German PVAQ shows good psychometric properties across samples of pain-free individuals and patients suffering from pain that are comparable to PVAQ versions of other languages. Thus, the German PVAQ seems to be a measure of pain vigilance equally valid as found in other countries.
authors.affiliation: Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany. m.kunz@umcg.nl.|Department of Family Medicine, Geriatrics Section, University Medical Center Groningen, Groningen, the Netherlands. m.kunz@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kunz
authors.affiliation: Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
authors.forename: E S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Capito
authors.affiliation: Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Horn-Hofmann
authors.affiliation: Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.|Psychology School, Hochschule Fresenius University of Applied Sciences, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baum
authors.affiliation: Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Scheel
authors.affiliation: Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Karmann
authors.affiliation: Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Priebe
authors.affiliation: Physiological Psychology, University of Bamberg, Bamberg, Germany.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lautenbacher
mesh_terms: D059787:Acute Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Attention to pain; Hypervigilance, psychometric quality; Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire