FACTOR-ANALYTIC INVESTIGATION OF THE ILLNESS ATTITUDES SCALE IN A CHRONIC PAIN SAMPLE

The Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS) is a self-report instrument comprisi ng nine subscales designed to assess fears, beliefs and attitudes asso ciated with hypochondriasis and abnormal illness behaviour [Kellner (1 986). Somatization and hypochondriasis. New York: Praeger.]. The purpo se of the present study was to explore the factor structure of the IAS in a chronic pain sample as a preliminary step toward determining the use of this measure in this sample. Hypochondriacal tendencies have b een postulated to play a role in maintaining and exacerbating response s to chronic pain and, therefore, appropriate measurement in this samp le is important. In the present study, consecutive chronic pain patien ts presenting to a pain treatment program (N = 198) were administered the IAS. Principal component analysis with oblique (Oblimin) rotation identified that five factors best explain the measure in this populati on. These factors were (1) fear of illness, (2) effects of symptoms, ( 3) health habits, (4) disease phobia and conviction and (5) fear of de ath. The factor structure overlapped to some degree with the scoring o f the IAS proposed by Kellner (1986), as well as with the factor struc ture identified in a non-clinical sample [Ferguson, E. & Daniel, E. (1 995). The Illness Attitudes Scale (IAS): a psychometric evaluation on a non-clinical population. Personality and Individual Differences, 18, 463-469.]. There were enough discrepancies, however, to suggest an al ternative method for scoring the IAS with chronic pain patients. Impli cations for the use of the measure with chronic pain patients, as well as future research directions for exploring the utility of this measu re with chronic pain patients, are discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd. All rights reserved.