An in-depth exploration of personality, behavior, and family functioning of university students with and without chronic pain

Abstract

This study hypothesized that young adults with chronic pain would experience more depression, more family dysfunction, more anxiety, lower levels of self-esteem, have an external locus of control, and would be less satisfied with their social support. It was also hypothesized that students reporting longer-term chronic pain would experience more depression, more family dysfunction, more anxiety, lower levels of self-esteem, have an external locus of control, and w uld be less satisfied with their social support when compared to those reporting short-term chronic pain. The participants included 402 introductory psychology students. They completed a battery of questionnaires including (a) a demographic and pain questionnaire, (b) the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), (c) the West Haven-Yale Multidimensional Pain Inventory (WHYMPI), (d) the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, (e) the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS), (f) the Family Environment Scale (FES), (g) the Illness Behavior Questionnaire (IBQ), (h) the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC), (i) the Pain Disability Index (PDI), and (j) the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). There were no significant differences ('p' > .05) between the groups in terms of depression, anxiety, family dysfunction, self-esteem, and social support satisfaction. However, there were trends for individuals with chronic pain to report more depression and anxiety compared to individuals with acute/intermittent pain. This study also found that individuals with acute/intermittent pain were more likely to have an external locus of control compared to individuals with chronic pain. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between individuals with short-term and longer-term chronic pain on any of the measures.