Engagement in valued activities is an important outcome, particularly in treatments that aim to enhance quality of life in those with chronic conditions. The present study describes the initial evaluation of the Values Tracker (VT), a two-item measure of values engagement, in 302 treatment-seeking adults with chronic pain. Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the utility of the VT in the statistical prediction of pain-related functioning, after controlling for demographic variables, pain intensity, and pain-related distress. Across analyses, pain intensity accounted for significant variance (range ΔR2 = .06-.09) with pain-related distress adding additional unique variance (range ΔR2 = .07-.19). The VT accounted for additional unique variance (range ΔR2 = .02-.17) for all variables with the exception of physical disability. These findings provide initial support for the utility of the VT in those with chronic pain. Given the VT’s brevity, it may be particularly useful for tracking changes in engagement in values across sessions.
AnderssonH. I. (2004). The course of non-malignant chronic pain: A 12-year follow-up of a cohort from the general population. European Journal of Pain, 8, 47-53.
4.
BergnerM.BobbittR. A.CarterW. B.GilsonB. S. (1981). The Sickness Impact Profile: Development and final revision of a health status measure. Medical Care, 19, 787-805.
5.
BreivikH.CampbellW. I.NicholasM. K. (2008). Clinical pain management: Practice and procedures (2nd ed.). London, England: Hodder Arnold.
6.
BreivikH.CollettB.VentafriddaV.CohenR.GallacherD. (2006). Survey of chronic pain in Europe: Prevalence, impact on daily life, and treatment. European Journal of Pain, 10, 287-333.
7.
CampbellW. I.VowlesK. E. (2008). Practical methods for pain intensity measurements. In RiceA.BreivikH.CampbellW. I.NicholasM. K. (Eds.), Clinical pain management: Practice and procedures (2nd ed., pp. 12-27). New York, NY: Hodder Arnold.
8.
CohenJ.CohenP.WestS.AikenL. (2003). Applied multiple regression/correlation analysis for the behavioral sciences (3rd ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
9.
ElliottA. M.SmithB. H.HannafordP. C.SmithW. C.ChambersW. A. (2002). The course of chronic pain in the community: Results of a 4-year follow-up study. Pain, 99, 299-307.
10.
FordyceW. E. (1976). Behavioral methods for chronic pain and illness. St. Louis, MO: C.V. Mosby.
11.
GaskinD.RichardP. (2012). The economic costs of pain in the United States. The Journal of Pain, 13, 715-724.
12.
HayesS.StrosahlK.WilsonK. (2012). Acceptance and commitment therapy: The process and practice of mindful change (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
13.
IversonG. L.RemickR. (2004). Diagnostic accuracy of the British Columbia Major Depression Inventory. Psychological Reports, 95, 1241-1247.
14.
JensenM. P.KarolyP. (1992). Self-report scales and procedures for assessing pain in adults. In TurkD. C.MelzackR. (Eds.), Handbook of pain assessment (pp. 135-151). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
15.
JensenM. P.VowlesK. E.JohnsonL. E.GertzK. J. (2015). Living well with pain: Development and preliminary evaluation of the Valued Living Scale. Pain Medicine. Advance online publication. doi:10.1111/pme.12802
16.
MainC. J.KeefeF. J.JensenM. P.VlaeyenJ. W. S.VowlesK. E. (Eds.). (2014). Fordyce’s behavioral methods for chronic pain and illness. New York, NY: Wolters Kluwer.
17.
McCrackenL. M. (2005). Contextual cognitive-behavioral therapy for chronic pain. Seattle, WA: International Association for the Study of Pain Press.
18.
McCrackenL. M.DhingraL. (2002). A short version of the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS-20): Preliminary development and validity. Pain Research and Management, 7, 45-50.
19.
McCrackenL. M.VowlesK. E. (2007). Psychological flexibility and traditional pain management strategies in relation to patient functioning with chronic pain: An examination of a revised instrument. The Journal of Pain, 8, 700-707.
20.
McCrackenL. M.VowlesK. E. (2008). A prospective analysis of acceptance of pain and values-based action in patients with chronic pain. Health Psychology, 27, 215-220.
21.
McCrackenL. M.VowlesK. E. (2014). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and mindfulness for chronic pain: Model, process, and progress. American Psychologist, 69, 178-187.
22.
McCrackenL. M.VowlesK. E.EcclestonC. (2004). Acceptance of chronic pain: Component analysis and a revised assessment method. Pain, 107, 159-166.
23.
McCrackenL. M.YangS. (2006). The role of values in a contextual cognitive-behavioral approach to chronic pain. Pain, 123, 137-145.
24.
NeffK. D. (2003). The development and validation of a scale to measure self-compassion. Self and Identity, 2, 223-250.
25.
RenemanM. F.DijkstraA.GeertzenJ. H. B.DijkstraP. U. (2010). Psychometric properties of Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaires: A systematic review. European Journal of Pain, 14, 457-565.
26.
RoelofsJ.McCrackenL.PetersM. L.CrombezG.van BreukelenG.VlaeyenJ. W. (2004). Psychometric evaluation of the Pain Anxiety Symptoms Scale (PASS) in chronic pain patients. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 27, 167-183.
27.
SmithB. H.ElliottA. M.ChambersW. A.SmithW. C.HannafordP. C.PennyK. (2001). The impact of chronic pain in the community. Family Practice, 18, 292-299.
28.
VowlesK. E.FinkB.CohenL. (2014). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for chronic pain: A diary study of treatment process in relation to reliable change in disability. Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science, 3, 74-80.
29.
VowlesK. E.GrossR. T.McCrackenL. M. (2007). Evaluating outcomes in the interdisciplinary treatment of chronic pain: A guide for practicing clinicians. In SchatmanM.CampbellA. (Eds.), Chronic pain management: Guidelines for multidisciplinary program development (pp. 203-220). New York, NY: Informa.
30.
VowlesK. E.McCrackenL. M. (2008). Acceptance and values-based action in chronic pain: A study of treatment effectiveness and process. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 397-407.
31.
VowlesK. E.McCrackenL. M. (2010). Comparing the role of psychological flexibility and traditional pain management coping strategies in chronic pain treatment outcomes. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 48, 141-146.
32.
VowlesK. E.McCrackenL. M.McLeodC.EcclestonC. (2008). The Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire: Confirmatory factor analysis and identification of patient subgroups. Pain, 140, 284-291.
33.
VowlesK. E.McCrackenL. M.O’BrienJ. Z. (2011). Acceptance and values-based action in chronic pain: A three-year follow-up analysis of treatment effectiveness and process. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 49, 748-755.
34.
VowlesK. E.McCrackenL. M.SowdenG.AshworthJ. (2014). Psychological flexibility in coping with chronic pain: Further examination of the Brief Pain Coping Inventory-2. Clinical Journal of Pain, 30, 324-330.
35.
VowlesK. E.SowdenG.AshworthJ. (2014). A comprehensive examination of the model underlying Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for chronic pain. Behavior Therapy, 45, 390-401.
36.
VowlesK. E.ThompsonM. (2011). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for chronic pain. In McCrackenL. M. (Ed.), Mindfulness and acceptance in behavioral medicine: Current theory and practice (pp. 31-60). Oakland, CA: New Harbinger.
37.
VowlesK. E.WitkiewitzK.SowdenG.AshworthJ. (2014). Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for chronic pain: Evidence of mediation and clinically significant change following an abbreviated interdisciplinary program of rehabilitation. The Journal of Pain, 15, 101-113.
38.
VowlesK. E.ZvolenskyM. J.GrossR. T.SperryJ. A. (2004). Pain-related anxiety in the prediction of chronic low-back pain distress. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 27, 77-89.
39.
WicksellR. K.OlssonG. L.MelinL. (2009). The Chronic Pain Acceptance Questionnaire (CPAQ)-further validation including a confirmatory factor analysis and a comparison with the Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia. European Journal of Pain, 13, 760-768. doi:10.1016/j.ejpain.2008.09.003
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
