Psychologic Factors in Chronic Headache: Assessment by Means of the SCL-90-R Inventory

Abstract

A survey of the psychologic profile of 540 chronic headache cases, including migraine, tension, and mixed headache, has been carried out with the symptom check list (SCL)-90-R inventory. The results obtained were viewed in relation to sex, age, illness onset, and illness duration. Females showed a positive correlation of somatization with present age and with age at onset of illness and a negative correlation of interpersonal sensitivity, hostility, and paranoid ideation with present age and age at onset of illness. Men showed a negative correlation of obsessive-compulsive and paranoid scores with age and a positive correlation between onset of illness and somatization. Data were also analyzed by cluster analysis, which showed underpopulation with peculiar patterns of symptom profile. A prospective, long-term epidemiologic study could provide more conclusive results.

Personality factors in chronic headache: evaluation with SCL-90R

“…These results are in agreement with a previous study by Puca and co-workers [2] with the same methods on a sample of 540 chronic headache patients. No difference was found in the occurrence of psychopathological symptoms either between sex or between analgesic abusers and nonabusers, or among the three subtypes of chronic headaches.…”

“…The Symptom Check List 90R (SCL-90R) [1] is a scale of general evaluation of current psychopathology which can be self-administered by the patients themselves. The scales of SCL-90R correlate with those of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [2]. Moreover, the former have the advantage of being shorter and more practical.…”

Somatic Symptoms in Headache Patients: The Influence of Headache Diagnosis, Frequency, and Comorbidity

“…Somatization in men did not differ among headache diagnoses. Also, somatization was higher in women with onset of headache before age 15, but in men was higher with later onset 8 . In a pediatric study, children with migraine and tension‐type headache had significantly higher somatic complaint scores than those without headache, and children with migraine had significantly higher scores than those with tension‐type headache (TTH) 9 …”

Depression, Automatic Thoughts, Alexithymia, and Assertiveness in Patients With Tension‐type Headache

“…The role of psychological factors in chronic headache has been investigated extensively 1‐5 . The psychiatric disorder most frequently observed to accompany chronic headache is depression 6,7 .…”