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Personality Characteristics, Treatment Satisfaction, and the Adherence of Patients with Chronic Pain

Mei-Chung Chang, Shu-Fen Huang, Ting-Hsuan Lee, For-Wey Lung

Objective: Personality may influence people’s outlook on problems and problem solving styles, which affects their health seeking behavior and outcomes. The objective of this study was to investigate the relationship among parental attachment, personality characteristics, and help-seeking behavior in chronic pain patients. Methods: We recruited 86 participants (82.6% males, mean age 30.02 years) from the chronic pain clinic without a psychiatric diagnosis. They completed all copies of questionnaire including treatment satisfaction survey, Parental Bonding Inventory, and Eysenck Personality Inventory. Results: Patients who perceived their mothers as significantly more caring were more extraverted (β = 0.27, p < 0.001). Moreover, those that were significantly more extraverted to find their treatment helpful (β = 0.33, p < 0.001) and to be satisfied with the treatment (β = 0.36, p < 0.001), which significantly influenced their willingness to come again for treatment (β = 0.33, p < 0.001). Finding the treatment helpful was found to be a significantly mediating factor between maternal caring, neuroticism, and willingness to accept the treatment (β = 0.39, p < 0.001). In addition, age was also an important contributing factor. Older people found the treatment as significantly more helpful (β = 0.26, p < 0.001) and satisfying (β = 0.38, p < 0.001), which increased their willingness to come again for treatment. Gender did not show to have any significant influence on help-seeking behavior. Conclusion: Maternal attachment and personality characteristics were distant factors in patients’ adherence, and patients being satisfied or willingness to accept the treatment again are proximal factors. This result could be used as a reference for physicians or policy makers to facilitate effectiveness and efficiencies for treatment of patients with chronic pain. Further research are needed to develop comprehensive and theoretically based treatment after understanding adherence style in different kinds of groups.
Key Word adherence, biofeedback treatment, parental attachment, personality characteristics
Editorial Committe, Taiwanese Journal of Psychiatry
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