Measures

The research incorporated measurement of demographic, pain‐related and psychological factors and the measures used will be documented in the following section. Measures were chosen based on their reliability and previous use and validation in a chronic pain population.

3.4.1 Demographic information

The following demographic information was obtained from participants:

 Age

 Gender

 Ethnicity

 Marital/relationship status

 Occupational status

 Previous occupation

 Pain duration

 Age of onset of pain problem

 Diagnosis

 Previous pain treatment including psychological input

For an example of the demographic and pain‐related questions used in the study please see appendices G and H, respectively.

3.4.2. Pain: Visual analogue ratings of pain

Visual analogue scales (VAS) were used to measure: pain at its highest intensity; pain at its lowest intensity, pain at its usual intensity, and pain at its current intensity (Wade, Dougherty, Archer, & Price, 1996). All judgements were made with reference to the past week. The VAS for pain will be anchored ‘0 = no sensation’, ‘150 = most intense sensation imaginable’ using a 150mm scale (Wade et al., 1996). Please see appendix I for an example of the VAS used in this study.

3.4.3. Social participation and functioning: The SRPQ

Social participation was assessed using the modified Social Role

Participation Questionnaire (SRPQ) (Davis et al., 2009; Gignac et al., 2008). This is a 42 item scale, which assesses three components of social role participation in each of eleven domains (work; education; intimate relationships; children/

stepchildren/ grandchildren; other family; community involvement; socializing;

casual contact with others; travel; physical activity; and hobbies), plus one overall summary domain. The first component is role salience, which assesses the extent to which different roles are important to a person, irrespective of whether or not an individual is currently engaged in that role (e.g., the

importance of employment was assessed even if a participant was not working).

The second component is role limitations, in which participants were asked how difficult it is, given their present health status, to participate in each of the role domains. The third and final component is role satisfaction, in which questions assess extent to which participants are satisfied with their ability to participate in each of the applicable roles, in the ways they would like, in the context of the difficulties associated with their health condition. Because individuals may not engage in all roles, a mean role satisfaction score will only be calculated if participants respond to at least nine of the eleven domains, in accordance with the recommendations set out by Gignac et al., (2008).

This measure was developed and validated for use with individuals experiencing chronic pain (Gignac et al., 2008). Permission was granted by the author for the scale to be used in this study. Cronbach’s alpha demonstrated an acceptable level of internal reliability for the three subscales of the SRPQ in this study (salience: α=.77; difficulty: α=.64; satisfaction: α=.71). Please see appendix J for a copy of the SRPQ used in this study.

3.4.4. Self‐Compassion: The Self Compassion Scale (SCS)

The SCS is a 26 item scale which assesses the six facets of self‐compassion:

self‐kindness, common humanity, mindfulness, self‐judgement, isolation and over‐

identification. The latter three (negative) aspects reverse coded. Responses are on a five point scale from ‘‘almost never’’ to ‘‘almost always.’’ The scale has good predictive, convergent, and discriminant validity (Neff, 2003b) and has been shown to have good internal reliability when used with a pain population (α =.93‐

.95; Wren et al, 2012, Costa & Pinto‐Gouveia, 2011). Permission was granted by the author for the scale to be used in this study. Cronbach’s alpha demonstrated an acceptable level of internal reliability for SCS in this study (α=.91). Please see appendix K for a copy of the SCS.

3.4.5. Mood: The Depression, Anxiety and Positive Outlook Scale (DAPOS)

The DAPOS is an 11 item scale, designed to measure depression, anxiety and positive outlook in people who suffer from pain (Pincus, Williams, Vogel &

Field, 2007). The DAPOS contains three subscales: Depression, Anxiety, and Positive Outlook. Each of these provides an independent score. There is no total score. The DAPOS was selected as it has been demonstrated to have good internal consistency and construct validity for use in a chronic pain population (Pincus, Rusu & Santos, 2008). Cronbach’s alpha demonstrated an acceptable level of internal reliability for the three subscales of the DAPOS in this study (Depression:

α=.88; Anxiety: α=.85; Positive Outlook: α=.74). Please see appendix L for a copy of the DAPOS.

3.5. Vignettes

The following will describe the methods by which the vignettes were administered and data collected in this study. Please see chapter two regarding the design, construction and decisions regarding method of response collection for the experimental vignettes in this study.

3.5.1. Summary of vignette content

Six experimentally manipulated vignettes were used in the study. Vignettes were manipulated across three social contexts: immediate family, peer and

occupational domains (Hellström, 2007), and the hypothetical scenarios were either pain relevant, in the sense of pain playing a causal role in the difficulty being experienced, or self‐, but not pain, relevant. Please see appendix E for the six vignette scenarios.

3.5.2. Vignette administration

Vignette administration and data collection was designed taking into account the considerations set out by Bradbury‐Jones et al (2014). Participants were seen individually to respond to the vignettes in order to reduce any other focussed social desirability effects. In accordance with recommendations by Paddam et al., (2010), vignettes were given in a random order using a 6 x 6 latin square (Grant, 1948) to facilitate randomisation in order to prevent order effects.

Participants were asked to read vignettes to reduce potential bias caused by having them read aloud by the researcher.

3.5.3. Vignette data collection

After reading each vignette (presented on separate cards) participants were asked about their response to the vignette, prompted to express what they

would be feeling, thinking and doing in this situation in a short discussion (< 5 minutes) with the researcher. This was designed to improve participant experience and also maximise participants’ capacity to vividly imagine

themselves in the scenario. This was incorporated in order to prime participants for the provision of an authentic response to the closed ended questions

regarding the vignettes which followed. Participants were then provided with potential emotional, cognitive and behavioural responses to the vignette and asked to rate the intensity of each of four emotions (sadness, anxiety, anger, embarrassment) and likelihood of each of six responses (problem solving;

support‐seeking; distraction; avoidance; rumination; catastrophising). Please see appendix F for an example rating sheet.