Personality factors in the explanation of sex differences in pain catastrophizing and response to experimental pain

Objective: To examine the effects of personality and pain catastrophizing upon pain tolerance and pain ratings and to examine the impact of an experimental pain induction on subsequent ratings of catastrophizing, Method: Two hundred nineteen college students participated in a cold pressor task. Sex-differentiating personality constructs were measured by the Extended Personal Attributes Questionnaire. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale was given before and after the cold pressor task. Results: A path-analytic model fit the data well and permitted tests of explanatory relationships. Mediational analyses demonstrated that sex differences in catastrophizing were explained by the Personal Attributes Questionnaire Masculinity-Femininity and Verbal Passive-Aggressiveness scales. Pain tolerance and pain ratings differed significantly between men and women, but Masculinity-Femininity partially mediated those sex-pain relationships. Additionally, higher pain ratings and lower pain tolerance were independently associated with increased catastrophizing after the cold pressor task. Conclusions: The results suggest that sex differences in catastrophizing and pain responsivity are partially accounted for by the dispositional tendency to describe oneself as emotionally vulnerable. The findings also suggest that pain catastrophizing may be situational as well as dispositional.