Reliability and validity of the pain implicit association test
Abstract
Racial disparities in pain management are evident in healthcare settings (Bernabei et al., 1998; Cleeland et al., 1997; Tamayo-Sarver, Hinze, Cydulka, & Baker, 2003; Todd et al., 2000). These disparities may be driven by communication differences, our current model of healthcare, and physician's implicit biases. Currently, the Implicit Association Test (IAT) is used to measure the implicit biases (Greenwald et al., 1998), but a healthcare relevant version of the IAT is needed. The current study aimed to examine the reliability and validity of a newly created healthcare relevant version of the IAT, the Pain IAT. This version utilized the same format as the classic IAT, but added the task of recognizing pain to mask the assessment of race. Findings suggest that the Pain IAT has internal consistency reliability using both Cronbach's alpha and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The response latencies of the Pain IAT correlate with the classic IAT, which supports convergent validity. The Pain IAT also demonstrates that there are differences in response latencies based upon the race of the photo; response latencies were longer for black faces compared to white faces which may indicate racial implicit biases in the participants. This study contributed to the literature by examining a newly designed version of the IAT that may be used specifically in a healthcare setting.
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Shields, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Health sciences|Individual & family studies
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