Prediction of Chronic Muscular Pain Based on Personality Type, Hardiness and Perceived Social Support

Pain is a mental experience, and because it has cognitive and emotional components, it can be influenced by personality and psychological variables that play a role in creating or worsening of its primary cause. This study aimed to predict the chronic muscular pain in terms of personality type, hardiness, and perceived social support.

This research was a descriptive correlational study. The sample included female married patients (N=121) with chronic muscular pain referred to the following medical centers: Sina Hospital, Imam Khomeini Clinical Center, Mobasher Clinical Center, Mahdieh Clinical Center, and certain healthcare centers privately owned by the physicians in the city of Hamedan, Iran. Patients’ diagnosis had been made by a neuro surgeon, and for this study, subjects were selected using convenience sampling method.To collect the data, chronic pain assessment questionnaire, type C and type D personality questionnaires, and hardiness scale questionnaire were used. The data were analyzed using a multivariate liner regression analysis.

Regression results showed that hardiness (Beta = -0.231, p = 0.011) and perceived social support (Beta = -0.194, p = 0.031) play a negative and significant role in predicting chronic muscle pain in married women. With regard to our findings, there was a significant relationship between female married patients’ hardiness, personality traits of types C and D as well as perceived social support and chronic muscular pain (p<0.05).

According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that the severity of chronic muscle pain can be predicted based on hardiness and social support. Therefore, in addition to pharmacological treatments to reduce the pain, psychological factors and support in patients with chronic muscular pain should be taken into consideration.