ANGER, DEPRESSION, AND DISABILITY - A PATH-ANALYSIS OF RELATIONSHIPS IN A SAMPLE OF CHRONIC POSTTRAUMATIC HEADACHE PATIENTS

Anger and depression are common affective concomitants of chronic head ache. Previous research suggests that the affective component of heada che may contribute to the patient's perceptions of the degree to which the headache is disabling. The present study examined the relationshi p between anger expression, anger suppression, depression, and headach e-related disability (interference with function) in a sample of chron ic posttraumatic headache patients. A path analytic model indicated a direct relationship between depression and perceived disability. Anger suppression and anger expression each had a direct influence on depre ssion, but their effects on disability were mediated through depressio n. The results partially replicate a previous path analytic study of t he relationships among these variables in a chronic headache sample.