Is there a link between ‘ pain-proneness’ and ‘action-proneness’?

Abstract

The present study was designed to examine the premorbid 'action-proneness' of chronic pain patients without obvious organic etiology. Using a validated psychometric instrument (the HAB questionnaire), 3 clinical groups were compared: 30 patients with chronic 'non-organic' pain, 30 patients with chronic organic pathology and 30 hospitalized psychiatric patients without pain as a primary complaint. The results indicate that the chronic pain patients describe themselves retrospectively as more 'action-prone' than the patients of the two control groups. Using an analysis of covariance to have statistical control on age, occupational level and depression, the results were statistically significant on the 0.05 level. Although this study suggests that a strong tendency towards direct action may be a frequent and relatively specific premorbid feature of chronic pain patients, the pathogenic implications of these findings remain uncertain.

Self-critical perfectionism and its relationship to fatigue and pain in the daily flow of life in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome

“…a cognitive and behavioural tendency towards direct action and overactivity) have been implicated in CFS (Magnusson et al 1996;White & Schweitzer, 2000;Luyten et al 2006Luyten et al , 2011Van Houdenhove et al 2006;Van Campen et al 2009;Deary & Chalder, 2010;Fukuda et al 2010;Kempke et al 2011fl,b) and also in chronic pain disorders (Van Houdenhove et al 1987;Rudich et al 2008;Lerman et al 2010Lerman et al , 2012. a tendency to persevere despite frustration and fatigue) and ' action-proneness ' (i.e.…”

“…a tendency to persevere despite frustration and fatigue) and ‘action-proneness’ (i.e. a cognitive and behavioural tendency towards direct action and overactivity) have been implicated in CFS (Magnusson et al 1996; White & Schweitzer, 2000; Luyten et al 2006, 2011; Van Houdenhove et al 2006; Van Campen et al 2009; Deary & Chalder, 2010; Fukuda et al 2010; Kempke et al 2011 a , b ) and also in chronic pain disorders (Van Houdenhove et al 1987; Rudich et al 2008; Lerman et al 2010, 2012). In one of the first studies to examine the role of perfectionism in CFS, Magnusson et al (1996), in a non-clinical sample, showed that maladaptive perfectionism was significantly associated with trait fatigue.…”

Chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia: Clinical assessment and treatment

“…Despite the popularity of the pain-prone model in previous decades, its psychological premises have received limited research attention in chronic pain groups, including FM. Regarding behavioral tendencies to overwork, we found only one related study (Van Houdenhove, Stans, & Verstraeten, 1987) in chronic pain patients, which suggested that these patients were more "action prone" than a healthy control group. Empirical studies have found relationships between unexpressed anger and pain intensity in chronic pain patients (Kerns, Rosenberg, & Jacob, 1994), lower awareness of anger in chronic pain patients compared to other medical patients (Braha & Catchlove, 1986), and greater anger suppression in chronic pain patients as compared to healthy controls (Hatch et al, 1991).…”

Determinants of representational and behavioral hyperactivity in patients with fibromyalgia syndrome

“…Representational aspects of hyperactivity: the Habitual Action-Proneness Questionnaire. This questionnaire is frequently used in research concerning hyperactivity and fibromyalgia (Van Houdenhove, 1986;Van Houdenhove et al, 1987, 1995, 2001Van Houdenhove and Neerinckx, 1999). Created in Dutch on the basis of 316 factory workers, its original version proved to be sufficiently reliable (Cronbach's α = .78) (Dirken, 1970).…”

“…Fibromyalgia syndrome affects between .2 and 6.6 percent of the general population in the United States and other regions of the world (Marques et al, 2017). A premorbid hyperactive lifestyle (expressed in short in this article by the term “hyperactivity”) is suggested to be associated with fibromyalgia (Van Houdenhove, 1986; Van Houdenhove et al, 1987, 1995, 2001, 2006; Van Houdenhove and Neerinckx, 1999). However, a clear definition of hyperactivity in fibromyalgia patients remains lacking.…”