• Kim Pulvers and Anna Hood.
• Department of Psychology, California State University San Marcos, 333 S. Twin Oaks Valley Rd., San Marcos, CA 92096, USA. kpulvers@csusm.edu
• Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2013 May 1;17(5):330.

AbstractA variety of biological, psychological, and social factors interact to influence pain. This article focuses on two distinct, but connected, psychological factors--positive personality traits and pain catastrophizing--and their link with pain perception in healthy and clinical populations. First, we review the protective link between positive personality traits, such as optimism, hope, and self-efficacy, and pain perception. Second, we provide evidence of the well-established relationship between pain catastrophizing and pain perception and other related outcomes. Third, we outline the inverse relationship between positive traits and pain catastrophizing, and offer a model that explains the inverse link between positive traits and pain perception through lower pain catastrophizing. Finally, we discuss clinical practice recommendations based on the aforementioned relationships.

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