Profiles of personality and resilience in chronic pain: utility of the CDRISC-10 to discriminate between resilient and vulnerable types

Abstract

Introduction: One of the psychological aspects associated with the experience of chronic pain have been personality profiles and, related to them, resilience. In chronic pain, resilience refers to both the ability to go back and the repetition of problems. In this field, however, there is no reference to whether resilience is related to personality profi les. Previous studies have addressed the issue of personality profiles related to chronic pain. The objective of this studie is to replicate previously found profi les, determine the differential capacity of the personality profiles evaluated through the Big Five Model (FFM) and describe their relationship with the adaptation to the disease in patients with chronic pain. Material and method: The personality dimensions (NEO-FFI) are evaluated on the sample of 494 patients diagnosed with chronic pain who attend the Multidisciplinary Unit for Pain Treatment of the Consortium of the General University Hospital of Valencia, for the first time, resilience (CDRISC-10), coping (CAD-R) and quality of life (SF-36). Results: Cluster analysis yields types of personality profi les: resilient and overcontrolled or vulnerable. Subsequently, using a ROC curve, the cutoff point = 25 of the resolution measure that allows separating the resilient group from the vulnerable group was determined, clearly observing the differences in coping and quality of life in favor of the resilient group. Conclusion: From the cut-off point of the CDRISC-10 questionnaire, the use of coping strategies and the impact on the quality of life of the personality profile of the resilient group can be differentiated from the vulnerable one, which implies a clear saving of time and patient evaluation overload.