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Sensory Processing Sensitivity and Maladaptive Personality Traits in Chronic Pain Conditions: A Network Analysis
Marco Cavicchioli1,2, Filippo Nimbi1, Sara Bottiroli3,4
1Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Faculty of Medicine and Psychology, SAPIENZA University of Rome, Rome, Italy, uniroma1.it.
Pain Research & Management
|March 28, 2026
Summary
Temperamental and maladaptive personality traits are linked to chronic pain conditions like headache, vulvodynia, and fibromyalgia. These traits, including sensory processing sensitivity and negative affectivity, are key factors in chronic pain development.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Psychiatry
- Pain Medicine
Background:
- Growing interest in personality factors influencing chronic pain (CP) conditions.
- Investigating temperamental and maladaptive personality traits in various CP syndromes.
- Comparing patients with CP and comorbid conditions to healthy controls (HCs).
Purpose of the Study:
- Explore implications of sensory processing sensitivity and maladaptive personality traits in CP.
- Analyze these traits across chronic headache, vulvodynia, and fibromyalgia.
- Identify differences between CP patients and HCs.
Main Methods:
- Survey of 1144 women across CP groups and HCs.
- Utilized Highly Sensitive Person Scale (sensory processing sensitivity) and Personality Inventory for the DSM-5 Short Form (maladaptive traits).
- Employed MANCOVA and network analysis for group comparisons.
Main Results:
- CP conditions showed higher sensory processing sensitivity (LST, EOE) and maladaptive traits (NA, DE, PSY) than HCs.
- NA, DE, and PSY were central in the personality network for CP.
- DE and PSY were most representative in comorbid CP patients.
Conclusions:
- Altered affective processing, reflected in temperamental and maladaptive traits, is common across CP syndromes.
- Dissociative/self-related processes and interpersonal dysfunction may be core markers in comorbid CP.
- These traits and processes are potential targets for psychotherapy.
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