Gender Differences in Personality Pattern and Coping Strategies of Headache Patients

Abstract

Headache is a disorder which has physical as well as psychological causes. Due to psychological factors like, personality type, coping style as well as gender differences, the study of headache becomes more complex and multidimensional.  To study the role of personality pattern and coping strategies in male and female headache patients, 32 male headache patients and 43 female headache patients were taken. The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory [MMPI] and the Coping Response Inventory [CRI] Adult Form, were used to study the psychological factors in headache patients. The findings suggest that there is a significant difference in personality pattern of male and female headache patients in terms of depression, hypochondrical tendencies and social introversion. Similarly there are significant differences on all scores of coping response inventory except on acceptance resignation.