As Egbert (1985) contends, "the physical recovery of surgical

 patients is exquisitely sensitive to psychological factors" (p. 56).

 The studies cited in Chapter 2 support this statement. This study

 suggests personality type and coping styles may have a role in pain

 response that is related to particular procedures and particular

 populations. The management of postoperative pain is dependent on an

 understanding of individual differences that mediate a given response.

 Because appropriate psychological intervention can affect the incidence

 of postoperative complications and the length of hospital stay, it is

 important to continue to investigate psychological factors that may

 influence the patient's response to procedures. Appropriate psychologi-

 cal intervention could be idiosyncratic, considering individual differ-

 ences such as type preference and coping style.

 In summary, the personality type preferences identified by this

 study as being associated with pain response are extraversion/intro-

 version for the hand rehabilitation group and thinking/feeling for the

 gastric bypass group. The coping styles most associated with pain

 response are the inhibited style and sensitive style for the gastric

 bypass group; the inhibited style and forceful style for the hand

 surgery group; and the introversive style, respectful style, and

 sensitive style for the hand rehabilitation group.


 Recommendation for Future Research


 Although this study has identified some variables which appear to

be associated with pain response, some inconsistencies in these

findings, and taken with other findings, suggest a need to search for