Chronic pain experience and transtheoretical model: Turkish validity and reliability study of the Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire

The Turkish validity and reliability of The Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire, originally developed by Kerns et al (1997), was adopted to Turkish in this dissertation. As part of the data collection, The Informed Consent Form, The Demographic Features Questionnaire, The Original Form of the Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire, The Pain Beliefs Questionnaire, The Pain Coping Inventory, The Coping Style Scale, The Pain Assessment Form, The Patient Health Questionnaire, and The Short Form-36 Health Survey was applied to the participants. This statistical analysis was done from 186 individuals that was 139 women and 47 men, who were diagnosed with different types of chronic pain. An exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses conducted in the study, unlike the original four-factor structure of the scale; a two-factor structure consisting of "Contemplation" and "Post-Action" factors was found. In our investigation, a 17-item model was formed as a consequence of item and factor analyses, and this model was tested with confirmatory factor analysis It was shown that it had better goodness of fit values than the original study's 30-item structure. The Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficients of the sub-factors of the Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire were found as .67 for the "Contemplation" factor, and .80 for the "Post-Action" factor. In the construct validity study, the correlation coefficients between the "Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire" and the Pain Beliefs Questionnaire were incorporated into the battery, as well as the Pain Coping Inventory, the Coping Style Scale, the Patient Health Questionnaire, and the Short Form 36 Health Survey has been examined. Following these analyses, the Contemplation factor analysis indicated a substantial negative correlation with the SF-36 Health Survey sub-dimension of bodily pain and the sub-dimension of the Coping Style Scale, seeking social support, as expected. Active coping, a sub-dimension of the Pain Coping Inventory, organic beliefs, a sub-dimension of the Pain Beliefs Questionnaire, vitality, mental health, social functioning, a sub-dimension of the SF-36 Health Survey, and self-confidence, a sub-dimension of the Coping Style Scale, make up the Post-Action factor demonstrated that the method had a positive and significant correlations. In addition, the Post-Action factor was negatively correlated with passive coping, which is the sub-dimension of the Pain Coping Inventory, with the helpless approach and submissive approach, which are the sub-dimensions of the Coping Style Scale, with general health, general anxiety, panic disorder and depression, which are the sub-dimensions of the Patient Health Questionnaire showed significant relationships. This is the first known research to test the Transtheoretical Model's coping mechanisms, depression, anxiety, and mood predictors in a chronic pain sample. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that the Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire is a valid and reliable assessment method that can help establish appropriate treatment modalities which are tailored to the person by assessing the individuals' current stage of change and emotional state. Keywords: Chronic Pain, Transtheoritical Model, Behavioral Change, Motivational Interview, Pain Stages of Change Questionnaire