Abstract
Psychological treatment of headache. Variables which predict improvement in an active-passive appro ach. The objective of this study is to identify the variables involved in the therapeutic effectivity of the psychological treatment of headache. Two main factors were studied: active and passive patient collaboration in the treatment. 21 headache patients were assigned to two groups. The first group received the Passive-Active treatment sequence, and the second the Active-Passive sequence. The variables evaluated were: physiological responses, expectancies for the psychophysiological evaluation, locus of control, suggestibility, type A behavior pattern, depression, associations between specific situations and changes in pain, improvement, age, years on pain and education. A multiple regression analysis were used to identify the variables which explained clinical improvement in both treatment approaches. The study showed the utility of predicting the effectiveness of a conventional psychological treatment (Active) and another less conventional one (Passive), in order to maximize the clinical effects of treatment.
