Psychosocial precursors and correlates of migraine headache.

Abstract

This study tested the interactions of migraine headache cycles and sufferers' daily experiences of stressful events, emotional arousal, and physical activity. Hypotheses were that patterns of these variables would be associated with the episodic onset of migraine headache and that frequency of attacks could be predicted by combinations of personality and behavioral variables. Thirty-three migraine sufferers were interviewed, tested, and given a 4-week diary for recording daily headache activity, physical activity, stressful events, and emotional states. Repeated-measures analyses found significant elevations of stressful events over the 4 days leading up to and including a migraine day. Physical activity declined over the same period. Emotional arousal showed a trend to significance. Regression analyses identified sets of personality and behavioral predictors accounting for substantial variance in the reported numbers of migraine and headache-free days. These results support a model of migraine characterized by parallel physiological and psychosocial instability during a 4-day cycle and by an interaction of personality and behavioral (self-reported stress) functions.

Relaxation Training and Written Emotional Disclosure for Tension or Migraine Headaches: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

“…Negative life events are associated with the frequency of tension headaches in undergraduates (22), and life stressors often precede tension headaches (23). Stressful events were found to precede migraines up to 4 days before the headache (24). Various childhood adversities (divorce, family conflict, physical abuse, etc.)…”

Headache and Psychiatric Comorbidity: Historical Context, Clinical Implications, and Research Relevance

“…Measures designed to assess levels of stress, cognitive and behavioral strategies for coping with stress, emotional reactivity to pain, dysfunctional beliefs about headaches, factors influencing perceived personal control of headaches, and headache‐related disability may often prove to be more valuable in the study of mediators and moderators of treatment outcome than measures designed to assess more severe psychopathology (eg, MMPI, Eysenck Personality Inventory). For example, studies conducted to date have consistently shown: (i) the level of daily, minor stress is positively correlated with headache activity level, 68–72 and (ii) headache patients are likely to engage in maladaptive coping behaviors in managing stress or headaches 73–78 . Collectively, these findings suggest that we might more profitably shift the focus of psychological assessment from psychopathology toward other, “less pathological” behavioral and cognitive variables in future research seeking to better delineate the role of psychological factors in recurrent headache.…”

Migraine and Stress: A Daily Examination of Temporal Relationships in Women Migraineurs

“…Studies examining the relationship between stress and migraine have either: (a) asked migraineurs to recall the number, types, and occasionally their perceptions of stressful events in their lives over a given time period [7][8][9][10][11] ; (b) manipulated characteristics of stressful situations in the laboratory and assessed migraineurs' psychological and physiological reactivity 12-15 ; or (c) had migraineurs self-monitor stress and headache on a daily basis over several weeks or months. [16][17][18] Studies examining migraineurs' reports of life stressors, including how they appraise and cope with them, have generally found migraine to be associated with more life stressors which are often appraised as threatening and coped with in a more passive or avoidant manner. [7][8][9][10][11] Although these studies are often cited as supporting the hypothesis of a relationship between stress and migraine, they suffer from some noteworthy limitations.…”