Predicting Migraine Headache Scores Based on Early Maladaptive Schemas and Attachment Styles

Headache is the most common pain disorder, and it is even more common than cold. According to the latest research by the International Headache Society, migraine is the most severe type of headache. It affects about 1% to 2% of the general population and 15% to 20% of clients of psychological service centers in Europe and North American countries. Migraine is a neurological disease characterized by moderate to severe attacks of headache that can be divided into episodic migraines and chronic migraines. Episodic migraine, if left untreated, will turn into chronic migraine. In recent years, many researchers have paid particular attention to the relationship between psychological concepts and their effects on physical problems (including headaches). In this regard, Young's early maladaptive schemas and attachment styles are among the concepts that may be associated with migraine headaches. This study aimed to predict the score of migraine headaches based on early maladaptive schemas and attachment styles.

This descriptive study is of correlational type with an applied objective. The statistical population of this study comprised all students of the Islamic Azad University of Isfahan, Isfahan City, Iran, in the academic year of 2019–2020. Of them, 343 students were selected using a multi–stage cluster sampling method. Ahvaz Migraine Questionnaire (AMQ) (Najarian, 1997), Young Schema Questionnaire–Short Form (SQ–SF) (Young and Brown, 1998), and Adult Attachment Scale (Hazan & Shaver, 1987) were used to collect the study data. We used SPSS version 25 to analyze the obtained data. Statistical methods for data analysis were descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics. In order to investigate the relationships between variables, the Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis in a backward stepwise manner were used. The level of significance of the tests was α = 0.05.

The results showed that migraine headache score had significant direct relationships with emotional deprivation (p=0.001, r=0.401), abandonment (p=0.001, r=0.494), self–sacrifice (p=0.001, r=0.497), vulnerability (p=0.001, r=0.318), emotional inhibition (p=0.001, r=0.404), unrelenting standards (p=0.001, r=0.274), avoidant attachment style (p=0.001, r=0.194), and ambivalent attachment style (p=0.001, r=0.329) and a significant inverse relationship with secure attachment style (p=0.001, r=–0.110). The findings also revealed that emotional deprivation (p=0.001, β=0.21), self–sacrifice (p=0.001, β=0.29), emotional inhibition (p=0.001, β=0.17), secure attachment (p=0.015, β=–0.12) and ambivalent attachment (p=0.001, β=0.23) could predict migraine headache scores.

According to the research findings, early maladaptive schemas and attachment styles are among the factors affecting migraine headaches and can predict them.