Headache symptomology and neuroticism in a college sample

The purpose of this study was to investigate headache symptomology in relation to personality as measured by tests derived from use of factor analysis, namely, the Adjective Self-description scales, the Eysenck Personality Inventory, and seven questions of headache symptomology. These were administered to 200 male and 200 female university undergraduates. Only measures of neuroticism were related to headache symptomology; no sexual differences in neuroticism were associated with any of the specific symptoms investigated; and neuroticism tended to increase with the number of symptoms affirmed. However, generalization may be limited due to the small number of symptoms investigated as well as by the lack of specialization of the sample.