Development and validation of the Pain-Induced Comfort Eating Scale in a chronic pain sample

Figures & data

Table 1. Means and SDs of scores on the PICES (N = 166).

Items of the PICES	Mean	SD	Range (Min–Max)
1. How often do you use food as a way of coping with flare-ups of your chronic pain?	3.44	1.96	1–8
2. When experiencing pain flare-ups, I eat more of my favorite foods to make myself feel better	2.52	0.98	1–4
3. When experiencing pain flare-ups, I eat more than I usually do	2.07	1.07	1–4
PICES Total Score	8.02	3.57	3–16

Table 2. Correlations (Spearman’s rho, df = 164) between the PICES (N = 166) and other scales/measures.

Measures	Q1 PICES frequency	Q2 Eat favorite foods	Q3 Eat more than usual	PICES Total score
BPI: Chronic Pain Intensity	0.09	0.02	0.09	0.08
BPI: Chronic Pain Interference	0.19*	0.11	0.10	0.17*
PCS: Pain Magnification	0.08	0.16*	0.09	0.11
PCS: Pain Helplessness	0.10	0.10	0.06	0.10
PCS: Pain Rumination	0.17*	0.14	0.09	0.16*
PCS: Pain Catastrophising Total	0.14	0.14	0.09	0.14
BEAQ: Experiential Avoidance	0.13	0.11	0.19*	0.16*
DASS-21: Depression	0.20*	0.10	0.11	0.16*
DASS-21: Anxiety	0.17*	0.17*	0.12	0.18*
DASS-21: Stress	0.29**	0.29**	0.26**	0.31**
DASS-21 Total	0.26**	0.22**	0.19*	0.26**
TFEQ: Cognitive Restraint	0.08	−0.01	0.15	0.09
TFEQ: Uncontrolled Eating	0.55**	0.51**	0.60**	0.62**
TFEQ: Emotional Eating	0.67**	0.70**	0.72**	0.77**
BMI	0.18*	0.19*	0.31**	0.25**

*Significant at 0.05. **Significant at 0.01.

Table 3. Results of an exploratory factor analysis of the PICES (N = 166) factor loading and communality.

Items of the PICES	Factor loading	Communality (h2)
Q1. How often do you use food as a way of coping with flare-ups of your chronic pain?	0.69	0.47
Q2. When experiencing pain-flare ups, I eat more of my favorite foods to make myself feel better	0.87	0.75
Q3. When experiencing pain-flare ups, I eat more than I usually do	0.92	0.83

h2 means communality, communality means h2 - its a factor analysis variable

Table

Please read the following questions and select the response that best fits with your experience over the last three months. Please note that the term “flare-up” refers to an exacerbation in your usual pain levels.
Q1. How often do you use food as a way of coping with flare-ups of your chronic pain?
1. Never
2. Less than once per month
3. Once a month
4. Once a fortnight
5. Once a week
6. Several times a week
7. Once a day
8. Multiple times a day
The following two questions relate to using food as a way of coping with flare-ups of your chronic pain. Please rate the extent to which you engage with the following behaviors:
Q2. When experiencing pain flare-ups, I eat more of my favorite foods to make myself feel better
1. Not at all
2. Only a little
3. A medium amount
4. A lot
Q3. When experiencing pain flare-ups, I eat more than I usually do
1. Not at all
2. Only a little
3. A medium amount
4. A lot
Q4. What types of food do you usually eat to help cope with a pain flare-up? List/describe all that apply:
… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …