Psychometric evaluation of the Tolerance for Mental Pain Scale in United States adults.

The purpose of the present study was to analyze the factor structure of the Tolerance for Mental Pain Scale (TMPS) in a sample of United States adults and examine its associations with suicidal behavior and intensity of psychological pain. Data were collected through an online general population survey (N = 225), and statistical analysis consisted of factor analysis and descriptive statistics of the data. Confirmatory factor analysis did not indicate a good fit with the originally proposed three-factor model. Subsequent exploratory factor analysis showed a good fit for a two-factor solution while enabling reduction of the scale to ten items, which we refer to as TMPS-10. The TMPS-10 scores were significantly lower for respondents with a lifetime history of attempted suicide and significantly inversely associated with the intensity of psychological pain. We recommend using the TMPS-10 to assess tolerance for mental pain for research purposes. With half the number of items of the original scale, the TMPS-10 has a lower response burden and minimizes the risk of over-inflating internal consistency due to redundant items.