Journal of behavioral medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Self-efficacy and choice of coping strategies for tolerating acute pain.
Participants who reported either low or high self-efficacy for tolerating painful stimuli were randomly assigned to conditions, in which they either did or did not have a choice of strategies for coping with arm shock. Choice and self-efficacy were positively associated with increases in perceived control. ⋯ Providing a choice of strategies did not benefit those with low self-efficacy. This study demonstrates that the benefits of allowing individuals the opportunity of choosing among an array of coping options depend on a prior conviction that one is able to cope.
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Recent research has indicated that the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) is a reliable measure that taps three dimensions of a singular construct. Gender differences have been found consistently in catastrophizing, with women reporting significantly higher scores than men on the PCS. This study was designed to cross-validate the factor structure of the PCS, independently for men and women, through second-order confirmatory factor analysis. ⋯ The second research objective was to test the two models for gender equivalence. Results indicate that all constraints held across gender. Together, these findings support the psychometric soundness of the PCS and indicate that the gender differences found are not due to an inadequate fit of the measurement or structural model.