Psychache Scale – Chinese Version

Description

Shneidman, in summarizing his more than 40 years of research on suicide, points out that suicide is caused by psychological pain. He named psychological pain as Psychache, emphasizing that it refers to an individual’s introspective experience of negative emotions such as guilt, despair, fear, and a sense of loss. Shneidman believes that psychological pain is closely related to psychological needs, as the obstruction or unfulfillment of psychological needs associated with an individual’s survival leads to psychological pain. When the intensity of psychological pain surpasses an individual’s maximum tolerance, they may view suicide as the only way to terminate this unbearable flow of consciousness, consequently triggering suicidal behavior. Based on empirical research, Shneidman further noted that psychological pain is the direct cause of suicide; without psychological pain, there is no suicide. Other factors like depression and despair are only related to suicide when linked with psychological pain.

The Psychache Scale (PAS), developed by Holden in 2011, focuses on the psychological pain experienced by subjects currently or over a certain period. This scale consists of 13 items and uses the Likert 5-point scoring method, with 9 items describing the frequency of pain and 4 items reflecting the intensity of pain.

Authors and Contact Email

Information not available

Purpose

To assess the psychological pain levels among individuals, specifically targeting college students.

Test Year

2011 for the original scale; 2017 for the Chinese version.

Administration Method and Scoring

The scale consists of 13 items scored on a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5. The scoring for the frequency of pain (9 items) ranges from 1 (Never) to 5 (Always), while the intensity of pain (4 items) ranges from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 5 (Strongly Agree). The total score can range from 13 to 65, with higher scores indicating more severe psychological pain. The scale has a Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.92, indicating good reliability.

Reliability and Validity

The reliability of the scale was tested with a Cronbach’s α coefficient of 0.92 initially and 0.90 when the scale was adapted into Chinese, indicating that it is suitable for assessing psychological pain levels among college students in China.

Factors and Subscales

The scale measures psychological pain through dimensions of frequency and intensity.

Keywords

Psychache, Psychological Pain, Suicide, PAS, Assessment

Items in Chinese

1. 我感到心理痛苦。
2. 我的内心似乎很疼。
3. 我心理上的痛苦超过了任何身体上的痛苦。
4. 我的痛苦使我想要大声尖叫。
5. 痛苦使我的生活变得黑暗。
6. 我不理解为何我会遭受痛苦。
7. 就心理上来说，我感觉我糟糕透了。
8. 我因为感觉空虚而痛苦。
9. 我精神痛苦（灵魂煎熬）。
10. 我无法再承受痛苦了。
11. 因为痛苦，我的处境变得很艰难。
12. 我的痛苦正使我慢慢崩溃。
13. 我心理上的痛苦影响我做每件事。

Items in English

1. I feel psychological pain.
2. My heart seems to ache.
3. My psychological pain exceeds any physical pain.
4. My pain makes me want to scream out loud.
5. Pain makes my life dark.
6. I do not understand why I am suffering.
7. Psychologically, I feel terrible.
8. I suffer because I feel empty.
9. I am in mental pain (soul torture).
10. I can no longer bear the pain.
11. My situation becomes very difficult because of the pain.
12. My pain is slowly causing me to collapse.
13. My psychological pain affects everything I do.

References

杨丽,陈伟.心理痛苦量表中文版在中国大学生中的信效度检验[J].中国临床心理学杂志,2017,25(03):475-478+583.DOI:10.16128/j.cnki.1005-3611.2017.03.017.
杜叶会,裴菊红,颜辉,南锐伶,钱晓玲,豆欣蔓.心理痛苦评估工具的研究进展[J].护理学杂志,2021,36(17):104-107.
PBL式健康教育对肝硬化患者自我感受负担的干预效果研究[D]. 刘志芳.山西中医药大学 2021