Preliminary validation of a self-efficacy scale for child functioning despite chronic pain (child and parent versions)

Pain. 2006 Nov;125(1-2):35-42. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2006.04.026. Epub 2006 Jun 5.

Abstract

Despite frequent targeting of health beliefs in pediatric chronic pain treatment interventions, there are currently no reliable and valid self-efficacy measures for children with chronic pain and their parents. The current study examined the psychometric properties of parent and child versions of a self-efficacy measure related to the child functioning normally when in pain. Pediatric pain patients, 9-18 years of age, and a caregiver completed questionnaires before an initial tertiary care clinic appointment. The 67 patients in our sample had an average of 1.7 pain locations, including abdominal pain (43.3%), headaches (50.7%), body pain (25.4%), back pain (23.9%), limb pain (20.9%), and/or chest pain (9.0%). Reliability for the new measures was excellent; the Cronbach's alpha was .89 for the 7 child items and .90 for the 7 parent items. Strong evidence for construct validity was also obtained as 23 of the 27 hypothesized correlations were confirmed. As predicted, parent and child ratings of increased self-efficacy for the child functioning normally when in pain were significantly correlated with each other, and to parent reports of fewer problems functioning due to physical or emotional problems; parent reports of fewer somatic, behavioral or emotional symptoms; parent reports of increased self-esteem, and unrelated to child pain, age and gender. Additionally, child ratings of increased self-efficacy were significantly correlated with child reports of increased self-esteem and fewer somatic symptoms. Replication with a larger sample size, more complex modeling, and prospective studies are indicated.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Validation Study

MeSH terms

  • Activities of Daily Living*
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Pain / diagnosis*
  • Pain / psychology*
  • Pain Measurement / methods*
  • Parents
  • Pilot Projects
  • Psychometrics / methods
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Self Efficacy*
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Severity of Illness Index*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires*