AUTHOR=Esposito Maria , Messina Antonietta , Monda Vincenzo , Bitetti Ilaria , Salerno Filomena , Precenzano Francesco , Pisano Simone , Salvati Tiziana , Gritti Antonella , Marotta Rosa , Lavano Serena Marianna , Lavano Francesco , Maltese Agata , Parisi Lucia , Salerno Margherita , Tripi Gabriele , Gallai Beatrice , Roccella Michele , Bove Domenico , Ruberto Maria , Toraldo Roberto , Messina Giovanni , Carotenuto Marco 

TITLE=The Rorschach Test Evaluation in Chronic Childhood Migraine: A Preliminary Multicenter Case–Control Study

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2017.00680

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2017.00680

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=<sec id="ST1"><title>Object</title><p>About 1.2–3.2% of children at 7 years of age with increasing age up to 4–19% in adolescents are suffering from migraine without aura (MwA). The aim of the present study is investigating the personality style associated with children and adolescents affected by MwA, administrating the Rorschach test, and comparing with typical developing healthy controls (TD).</p></sec><sec id="ST2"><title>Methods</title><p>137 patients (74 males), aged 7.3–17.4 years (mean age 11.4, SD 3.02 years), affected by MwA according to the IHs-3 criteria. The Rorschach variables were treated as numerical variables and statistically tested with <italic>t</italic>-Student’s analysis.</p></sec><sec id="ST3"><title>Results</title><p>No statistical differences were found between the MwA and TD for age (<italic>p</italic> = 0.55), and gender (<italic>p</italic> = 0.804). From the comparison between the two samples, MwA group shows lower W responses (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), good quality W responses (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), high frequency of detailed responses (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), the presence of even minor form of good quality responses (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), increased presence of animals answers (A%) (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001), more frequent trivial answers (Ban%) (<italic>p</italic> &lt; 0.001).</p></sec><sec id="ST4"><title>Discussion</title><p>Rorschach interpretation pinpointed many interesting and, perhaps, peculiar aspects in our MwA population such as a trend predisposition for: analytical reasoning rather than synthetic, ease/practicality rather than creativity, oppositionality rather than external adaptation to the environment that may be interpreted as effect of general maladaptivity.</p></sec>