The prioritization of symptom beliefs over illness beliefs: The development and validation of the Pain Perception Questionnaire for Young People.

Symptom beliefs appear to be more salient to adolescents with a long-term pain condition than beliefs about the illness as a whole. A new questionnaire to assess pain beliefs of adolescents was designed. Further validation work may be needed to assess its suitability for use with other pain conditions. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Versions of the adult Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) have been adapted for adolescents and children by changing item wording; however, research to assess the degree to which the underlying IPQ-R constructs are relevant to adolescents with a long-term condition had not been performed. What the present study adds? In adolescents, beliefs about symptoms of their condition are more salient than beliefs about the illness as a whole. Question response formats for children and young people need to take account of age-specific abilities. A new questionnaire has been designed for adolescents with pain. It is theoretically congruent with the CS-SRM.