A measure to gauge psychological pain: Assessing convergent construct validity and internal consistency of the Psychache Scale in the Cambodian context

Abstract

The following study was conducted in order to assess convergent construct validity and internal consistency of a Khmer-language adaptation of the Psychache Scale, a 13-item self-report instrument used to assess subjective experiences of psychological pain. The Psychache Scale (PAS) was translated into Khmer and back-translated to verify accurate meaning. The Khmer translation was corrected to address cultural and linguistic nuances for the Cambodian population and piloted among 121 students and recent graduates. The final Khmer version of the PAS showed high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.928). Results also showed that scores on the Psychache Scale were strongly associated with related concepts of depression (r² = 0.545, p = 0.000), anxiety (r² = 0.438, p = 0.000), stress (r² = 0.459, p = 0.000), and Baksbat, a Cambodian-specific cultural concept of distress (r² = 0.549, p = 0.000). Contrary to a priori hypotheses, the Psychache Scale was also negatively and statistically significantly associated with age (Kruskal-Wallis χ2 = 20.561, df = 4, p = 0.000) and was negatively statistically significantly related to education level (Kruskal-Wallis χ2 = 13.053, df = 2 p = 0.001). Given these results, the Psychache Scale shows potential clinical utility in the Cambodian context, though future research may consider how psychological pain differs according to age and education levels.