Self Evaluation Results

Thank you for taking the Chronic Pain Risk Factors Questionaire.  The Questions and your answers have been emailed to you at the email address you selected.  Feel free to print it out and refer to it for your self help treatment, or to discuss it with your Doctor or therapist.

How to evaluate the questionnaire results

The 34-items are divided into seven sections. Each set of  questions assess a different type or effect of stress. To assess your risk-factor levels, give yourself one point for each ‘true’ response in the scoring key below (Fig. 4.2).

Write your total number of true responses for each risk factor in the right hand column of the scoring key.

For example, if you answered ‘true’ to two items in questions 1-5, your score for ‘Emotional neglect’ would be ‘2’. If you answered ‘not true’ to all questions 6-10, your score for ‘Trauma’ would be ‘0’ and so on.

Figure 4.2

Download and Print the Scoring Key

Overcoming Pain Scoring Key
You can download and print the above Table if you wish to tally your answers.

Once you have completed scoring the questionnaire, evaluate your pain and stress risk factors as follows:

1. A score of two or more for any individual risk factor means you are affected by that risk factor to a significant degree, such that it is likely to be contributing to your pain and stress.
2. A score of three-plus means that risk factor is likely to be contributing severely to your pain and stress.
3. In addition, if your score was two or more for either or both of the first two risk factors (‘when I was young’), and you scored two or more for any of the second five factors (‘now’), your stress risk for pain is even greater.
4. If you didn’t score highly on any one risk factor, but your total score was five or more, you should still consider you overall stress risk levels as significant.

Planning your treatment

The next step is to use your results to develop your own stress/pain treatment program, using the strategies in my book Change Your Brain, Change Your Pain. This simply involves matching up your stress-risk factors with the relevant self-help strategies described in the book.

• Emotional neglect/childhood trauma (q’s 1-10)

If you scored two or more for either of these risk factors, you have been exposed to one of the leading risk factors for chronic pain. In addition to learning how to control stressful feelings and pain, you should focus on the chapters dealing with;

safety and support (ch. 5),

reconnecting with your feelings (ch. 6), and

resilience (ch.11).

• Safety and support (q’s 11-15)

If you scored two or more for this risk factor, you have insufficient safety and support. In addition to learning how to control stressful feelings and pain, you should focus on the chapters dealing with;

safety and support (ch. 5),

building resilience (ch. 12).

• Increased physiological arousal

If your scored two or more for this risk factor, it is likely that you are suffering from the effects of increased physiological arousal and you should focus on the chapters concerning;

safety and support (ch. 5),

reconnecting with feelings (ch.6),

controlling stressful feelings (ch. 7),

sleep (ch. 8) and possibly,

resolving trauma (ch.10).

• Emotional disconnection

If you scored two or more for this risk factor, it is likely that emotional disconnection is contributing to your pain and stress and you should focus on the chapters dealing with;

safety and support (ch. 5),

reconnecting with feelings (ch. 6).

• Negative thinking/‘Catastrophizing’

If you scored two or more for this risk factor, negative attitudes and thinking patterns are likely to be exacerbating your pain and stress and you should focus on the chapters dealing with;

safety and support (ch.5)

controlling stressful feelings (ch.7 ) and,

changing your thinking (ch. 9).

• Post-traumatic Stress Disorder

If you scored two or more for this risk factor, it is likely that symptoms of post-traumatic stress are exacerbating your pain and you should focus on the chapters dealing with;

safety and support (ch. 5),

reconnecting with your feelings (ch. 6),

controlling stressful feelings (ch. 7),

resolving trauma (ch. 10) and,

building resilience (ch. 11).