Suffering and response: Directions in empirical research

This essay provides a discussion of the current state of, and future possibilities for, empirical research on the topic of suffering. Discussion is given to the concept of suffering itself; existing empirical measures are reviewed and critiqued and a new multi-item measure of suffering, for use in both clinical and non-clinical populations, is put forward. The existing empirical research on suffering is briefly reviewed with considerable discussion given to potential future research directions on understanding the distribution and determinants of suffering, potential responses to suffering and their effectiveness, and the role of caregiving in the alleviation of suffering.