Pain Catastrophizing Scale

What it measures

Measures catastrophic thinking about pain — ruminating about pain, magnifying its threat value, and feeling helpless. Pain catastrophizing is one of the strongest psychological predictors of pain severity, disability, and poor surgical outcomes. Widely used in chronic pain, surgical, and rehabilitation research.

Response format

Likert (0–4, not at all to all the time) when experiencing pain; total 0–52

Representative items

• I worry all the time about whether the pain will end. (Rumination)
• I feel I can't go on. (Helplessness)
• It's terrible and I think it's never going to get any better. (Magnification)
• I feel I can't stand it anymore. (Helplessness)
• I keep thinking about how much it hurts. (Rumination)

Usage notes & scoring

Freely available from Michael Sullivan (sullivan-painresearch.mcgill.ca). Clinical cut-off: total score >=30 suggests high catastrophizing. Three subscale scores; Helplessness subscale is the strongest predictor of disability. Widely used as a pre-surgical risk screen and outcome measure in pain management interventions.

Recommended companion scales

Citation

Sullivan, M.J.L., Bishop, S.R., & Pivik, J. (1995). The Pain Catastrophizing Scale: Development and validation. Psychological Assessment, 7(4), 524–532.

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