The Comparison of stress, coping styles and social support in patients with Chronic Tension Type Headache and Normal People

Background and Aim : Tension type headache is very frequent in the world and might be caused by various predisposing and exacerbating factors. The current study aimed to compare stress, coping styles, and social support in patients with Chronic Tension Type Headache (CTTH) and people with no headache.Methods : In this ex post facto design study, the participants were 60 women with CTTH referring to several psychiatry and neurology clinics in Kashan and 60 women with no headache. They were matched in age, material status, and economic status and completed Paykel Major Life Event Questionnaire, Endler and Parker Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations, and Wax Social Support Scale.Results : The results of Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of the number of stressful events. Moreover, the CTTH group had lower means for problem oriented coping strategies and perceived social support and higher means for perceived as well as stress emotional and avoidant strategies.Conclusion : Perceived stress is one of the triggering factors of CTTH, and repetitive stress or prolonged physiological response to stressors can result in exacerbating chronic pains like CTTH. Moreover, lack of appropriate coping strategies and social support, as protective shields against stress, and the use of avoidant behaviors exacerbates the effect of stress on CTTH.The findings imply teaching stress management, improving styles for coping with stress, and enhancing social support could play a significant role in decreasing the risk of developing CTTH and exacerbating it.

Keywords:

Chronic Tension Type Headache (CTTH) , stress , coping style , social support