title: Self-critical perfectionism predicts outcome in multidisciplinary treatment for chronic pain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Self-critical perfectionistic personality features have been shown to influence the onset and perpetuation of pain symptoms. However, no study to date has investigated whether these personality features are associated with treatment response in chronic pain.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using a naturalistic pre-post design, the present study examined the effect of self-critical perfectionism on treatment outcome in terms of self-reported pain. The study was conducted in a sample of 53 chronic non-cancer pain patients who followed Multidisciplinary Pain Education Program (MPEP), a brief, 2-week cognitive-behaviorally based psycho-educational intervention for chronic pain that was recently found to be effective in reducing pain severity. Pre- and post-treatment pain intensity levels were assessed with the visual analog scale of the McGill Pain Questionnaire-Short Form.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pretreatment self-critical perfectionism was significantly associated with negative treatment outcome, even after taking into account pretreatment levels of depression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggest that self-critical perfectionistic personality features may negatively interfere with treatment response in patients with chronic pain. Thus, findings indicate that chronic pain patients with high levels of self-critical perfectionism may benefit less from brief interventions such as MPEP, and therefore may need more intensive and tailored treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kempke
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Luyten
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Van Wambeke
authors.forename: Eline
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Coppens
authors.forename: Bart
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Morlion
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D015928:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010551:Personality; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012647:Self-Assessment
keywords: chronic pain; outcome; personality; predictors; treatment