Initial validation of the exercise chronic pain acceptance questionnaire.
Pain acceptance, measured by the chronic pain acceptance questionnaire (CPAQ), is related to exercise adherence for those with arthritis. The CPAQ measure has 20 items comprising two subscales -- pain willingness and activities engagement about pursuing "valued daily activities" despite pain. However, exercise is not specified as a valued activity and respondents may be considering other activities raising generalizability and strength of prediction concerns. Accordingly, a modified CPAQ solely for exercise (CPAQ-E) was developed to heighten salience to pursuit of exercise in the face of pain. An exercising sample with arthritis (N=98) completed the CPAQ-E at baseline and exercise 2 weeks later. Exploratory factor analysis of the CPAQ-E was performed using Mplus. Regression was used to predict exercise. Analysis revealed a two-factor, 14 item model with good psychometric properties reflecting pain willingness and activities engagement subscales (χ2=85.695, df=64, p<.037; RMSEA=.055; CFI=.967; TLI=.954). Both subscales and the total score positively predicted future weekly exercise bouts (range ps from <.05 to <.001). Activities engagement predicted future weekly exercise volume (p<.05). This study offers preliminary support for the factorial and predictive validity of the CPAQ-E among exercising individuals with arthritis. This measure could help researchers increase the specificity and sensitivity of pain acceptance responses to exercising among individuals with arthritis. A more sensitive measure might help clinicians interpret patient responses to exercise for pain self-management.