Psychological factors that influence self-reported pain

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Pain Medicine
• Clinical Psychology

Background:

• Chronic pain significantly impacts patients' quality of life.
• Understanding the psychological correlates of chronic pain is crucial for effective treatment.
• The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) are commonly used psychological assessment tools.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationships between the MMPI, the BDI, and various pain dimensions assessed by the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ).
• To explore how depression and personality traits measured by the MMPI relate to different aspects of chronic pain experience.

Main Methods:

• Thirty male U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients with chronic pain (duration > 3 months) participated.
• Participants completed the MMPI, the BDI, and the MPQ.
• Multiple regression analyses were employed to examine the correlations between the psychological measures and pain dimensions.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant correlations were found between depression (BDI) and the pain measures from the MPQ.
• MMPI subscales showed no significant relationship with sensory-discriminative, cognitive-evaluative, present pain intensity, body area in pain, or total pain words endorsed.
• Significant correlations emerged between MMPI subscales and the motivational-affective pain dimension (PT: positive, Sc: negative) and the miscellaneous pain dimension (Hs: positive).

Conclusions:

• The findings suggest that while general depression may not directly correlate with all pain dimensions, specific MMPI profiles are associated with the emotional and qualitative aspects of chronic pain.
• Results support cognitive-behavioral conceptualizations of chronic pain, highlighting the role of psychological factors in pain perception and experience.
• Further research is warranted to elucidate the complex interplay between personality, depression, and chronic pain.