The tridimensional personality theory and pain: Harm avoidance and reward dependence traits correlate with pain perception in healthy volunteers

The aim of the present study was to examine the possible role of personality traits in determining the variability of pain perception among individuals. More specifically, it was intended to test whether or not the three personality dimensions suggested by Cloninger in 1987 - mainly harm avoidance (HA), but also reward dependence (RD), and novelty seeking (NS), can predict interpersonal differences in responsiveness to experimental pain. Seventy healthy volunteers participated in the study. Their personality traits were evaluated through Cloninger's tridimensional personality questionnaire (TPQ). Pain threshold (latency to pain onset), pain magnitude (VAS), and pain tolerance (time to withdrawal) were measured by using the cold pressor test. Bonferroni-adjusted correlations were found between HA and the pain parameters as follows: a negative correlation between HA and threshold (ρ = -0.297, P_adj = 0.039); no significant correlation between HA and tolerance (ρ = -0.219, P_adj = 0.207); and a trend for a positive correlation between HA and VAS (ρ = 0.266, P_adj = 0.081). Possible correlations between pain perception and the various possible combinations of high and low scoring for each of the three traits were also investigated. Correlations were found only for the combinations of high/low HA and high/low RD. The low HA/low RD combination demonstrated the lowest responsiveness to pain (VAS 65.2 ± 21.4 tolerance 107.6 ± 71.8 s), whereas the high HA/low RD combination was correlated with the highest responsiveness (VAS 83.3 ± 10.8; tolerance 30.8 ± 28.4 s). The results indicate that HA personality trait correlates best with pain responsiveness. As such, a high HA are likely to predict a heightened pain response. RD may modify this pattern. The possible relevant behavioral and neuro-chemical mechanisms are discussed.