When Pain Catastrophizing Is Not Catastrophizing: Identifying Normative From Exaggerated Responses Relative to Referent Pain Intensity.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Although pain catastrophizing has been studied widely, there is no consensus on what constitutes an exaggerated response, that is, true catastrophizing, from what might be proportional unpleasant or negative responses to pain. Most available catastrophizing assessments ask respondents to consider when "in pain," with no assessment of these referent pain anchors. Thus, the influence of referent pain on catastrophic thinking remains unclear. We aimed to assess consistency across referent pain scenarios and to characterize "high" catastrophizing-representing exaggerated responses relative to referent pain intensity.

Methods

A total of 228 adults (152F) completed this observational study. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) was completed 4 times interspersed with oth

SUBMITTER: Frey-Law LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12602029 | biostudies-literature | 2025

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature