article · The Journal of Psychology
Migraine is a chronic neurological condition that severely disrupts daily life and reduces well-being. A study of 128 outpatient clinic patients in SADAT City, Egypt, investigated how emotional and cognitive factors influence symptom severity and overall quality of life. Using validated Arabic assessment scales, the investigation identified substantial psychological distress, with more than two-thirds of patients reporting high levels of depression and anxiety. Depression and perceived stress emerged as the strongest predictors of severe migraine symptoms and lowered quality of life, alongside significant contributions from anxiety and pain catastrophizing. Female patients reported higher levels of anxiety, depression, and pain catastrophizing than male patients. The outcomes demonstrate that addressing psychological distress alongside neurological symptoms is essential for effective patient care, advocating for the inclusion of stress management and cognitive behavioural therapy in standard treatment programmes.
Migraines cause debilitating physical pain, but mental distress significantly compounds the disability patients experience. By showing that emotional distress and pain catastrophizing strongly worsen migraine severity, this research underscores the need for healthcare providers to treat psychological symptoms alongside physical pain, pointing to combined medical and mental health interventions to improve day-to-day living for affected individuals.
This research represents early-stage clinical observational findings that support the integration of psychological screening tools and targeted behavioural interventions, such as digital cognitive behavioural therapy or stress management programmes, into headache clinics. Healthcare providers and developers of digital therapeutic platforms could utilise these insights to design combined psychological and neurological care pathways for Arabic-speaking populations, though further applied testing of specific intervention models is required before clinical deployment.
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Migraine is a chronic neurological condition that significantly impairs daily functioning and quality of life. This study investigated how psychological factors, including anxiety, depression, perceived stress, and pain catastrophizing, influence migraine symptom severity and quality of life among 128 patients attending outpatient clinics in SADAT City, Egypt. Participants completed validated Arabic versions of the Migraine Disability Assessment, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Migraine-Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire, and Perceived Stress Scale. Findings revealed high levels of psychological distress, with over two-thirds of participants reporting elevated anxiety and depression symptoms. Correlation and regression analyses demonstrated that depression and perceived stress were strong predictors of migraine severity and diminished quality of life, while anxiety and catastrophizing also contributed significantly. Female participants exhibited higher anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and catastrophizing levels compared to males. These results highlight the central role of psychological distress in exacerbating migraine burden and reducing overall well-being. The findings emphasize the necessity of integrating psychological assessment and interventions, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and stress management, into migraine treatment plans. This study contributes to the literature by simultaneously examining multiple psychological predictors of migraine disability and migraine-specific quality of life within an underrepresented clinical population in Egypt, providing further evidence for the biopsychosocial understanding of migraine. Addressing emotional and cognitive factors may enhance clinical outcomes and improve patients' functional and emotional quality of life.
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DOI: 10.1080/00223980.2026.2711404
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