Personality traits in migraine and tension-type headaches: a five-factor model study.
Although abnormal personality traits have been frequently reported in patients with primary headaches, the overlaps between these domains need a clear standard definition, for example, by a five-factor personality model. Moreover, personality abnormalities in patients with episodic tension-type headache (ETH) and migraine with aura (MA) are less well studied. Therefore, we administered Zuckerman-Kuhlman's Personality Questionnaire to 72 patients suffering from chronic tension-type headaches (CTH), 33 with ETH, 15 with MA and 57 with migraine without aura (MO), as well as 58 healthy subjects. Depressive trends were measured with Plutchik-van Praag's Depression Inventory. Compared to healthy controls, the CTH, ETH and MO groups showed significantly greater neuroticism-anxiety and depression. In addition, the MO group scored significantly higher on aggression-hostility than healthy controls. No abnormal personality traits were found in patients with MA. This study, from the perspective of a five-factor model, confirms most previous reports about personality in patients with primary headaches and establishes elevated aggression-hostility only in MO sufferers.
Cao
Ming
M
Center for Psychological Counseling, Capital Normal University, Beijing, China.
Zhang
Shiyang
S
Wang
Keyong
K
Wang
Yehan
Y
Wang
Wei
W
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000374:Aggression; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D008960:Models, Psychological; D009497:Neurotic Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D010554:Personality Disorders; D010555:Personality Inventory; D012307:Risk Factors; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*