Relative Contributions of Life Events Versus Daily Hassles to the Frequency and Intensity of Headaches

This study investigated headache parameters (frequency and intensity) in relation to (the number and severity of) two types of psychosocial stress: major life events (as assessed by a revised Social Readjustment Rating Scale) and minor daily hassles (as assessed by a revised Hassles Scale). Subjects were 261 volunteers reporting headache. Results revealed that both headache frequency and intensity were significantly predicted by daily hassles, in particular, the average severity of these hassles, but there was a negligible relationship between headache parameters and any of the life event measures. Furthermore, a significant relationship emerged between life events and daily hassles themselves. This fits with recent findings that life events (while exerting little direct effect on headache) may trigger a succession of hassles which culminate in headaches. Also, it is not the number of hassles, but the perceived severity of these hassles that best predicts headache frequency and intensity. Finally, though significant as predictors, daily hassles explained a small portion of the variance in headache, thus pointing to the host of other possible biological and psychosocial contributions to headache.