TY - JOUR
T1 - Neuroticism in young women with fibromyalgia links to key clinical features
AU - Malin, Katrina
AU - Littlejohn, Geoffrey Owen
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - We examined personality traits in young women with FM, in order to seek associations with key psychological processes and clinical symptoms. Methods. Twenty-seven women with FM and 29 age-matched female healthy controls [HC] completed a series of questionnaires examining FM symptoms, personality and psychological variables. Results. Significant differences between characteristic FM symptoms (sleep, pain, fatigue, and confusion) as well as for the psychological variables of depression, anxiety, and stress were found between FM and HC (P <0.001). Neuroticism was the only subscale of the Big Five Inventory that showed a significant difference between the FM group and HC group [P <0.05]. Within the FM group, there was a significant association between the level of the neuroticism and each of pain, sleep, fatigue, and confusion, depression, anxiety, and stress (P <0.05-0.01). The association between the level of neuroticism and the level of stress was the strongest of all variables tested (P <0.001). Conclusion. The personality trait of neuroticism significantly associates with the key FM characteristics of pain, sleep, fatigue and confusion as well as the common co-morbidities of depression, anxiety and stress. Personality appears to be an important modulator of FM clinical symptoms.
AB - We examined personality traits in young women with FM, in order to seek associations with key psychological processes and clinical symptoms. Methods. Twenty-seven women with FM and 29 age-matched female healthy controls [HC] completed a series of questionnaires examining FM symptoms, personality and psychological variables. Results. Significant differences between characteristic FM symptoms (sleep, pain, fatigue, and confusion) as well as for the psychological variables of depression, anxiety, and stress were found between FM and HC (P <0.001). Neuroticism was the only subscale of the Big Five Inventory that showed a significant difference between the FM group and HC group [P <0.05]. Within the FM group, there was a significant association between the level of the neuroticism and each of pain, sleep, fatigue, and confusion, depression, anxiety, and stress (P <0.05-0.01). The association between the level of neuroticism and the level of stress was the strongest of all variables tested (P <0.001). Conclusion. The personality trait of neuroticism significantly associates with the key FM characteristics of pain, sleep, fatigue and confusion as well as the common co-morbidities of depression, anxiety and stress. Personality appears to be an important modulator of FM clinical symptoms.
UR - http://www.hindawi.com/journals/prt/2012/730741/
U2 - 10.1155/2012/730741
DO - 10.1155/2012/730741
M3 - Article
SN - 2090-1542
VL - 2012
SP - 1
EP - 7
JO - Pain Research and Treatment
JF - Pain Research and Treatment
IS - Art. ID: 730741
ER -