Understanding the medically unexplained: emotional and familial influences on children's somatic functioning

Abstract

These results suggest that models of child somatization should consider both family - (e.g. parent somatization) and child-level (e.g. emotional functioning) variables. The discrepancies between parent and child report of youth somatic symptoms underscore the importance of including multiple reporters on symptomatology in research and clinical settings. Suggestions for future research are provided.

Assessing physical symptoms during the postpartum period: reliability and validity of the primary health questionnaire somatic symptom subscale (PHQ-15)

“…Similarly, mothers may report more child somatic symptoms than fathers [36], and parental somatization can lead to the development of somatization in children [37]. The PHQ-15 potentially provides a useful measure of somatic symptoms in perinatal samples based on the current findings with postpartum women.…”

Effectiveness of Play Therapy on Problematic Behaviors of Preschool Children With Somatization

“…Because somatic problems in early childhood have been found to persist into middle childhood and adulthood (Pihlakoski et al, 2006), and also predict externalizing and internalizing disorders, providing preschool children with interventions to reduce somatic symptoms is encouraged (Gilleland et al, 2009). In addition, this study confirms results of previous research that indicate CCPT is effective in reducing problematic classroom behaviors of preschool and elementary students (Bratton et al, 2013;Fall et al, 2002;Garza & Bratton, 2005;Schottelkorb & Ray, 2009;Schumann, 2010;Swan & Ray, 2014).…”

“…Gilleland, Suveg, Jacob, and Thomasson (2009) speculated that an overall lack of awareness of emotions could be related to somatic symptomology. In their investigation of 42 children, ages 7 to 12, Gilleland and colleagues (2009) found that faulty selfawareness and heightened negative affect predicted children's reporting of somatization symptoms.…”

Challenging Cases: How Do We Intervene With Pediatric Med/Psych Issues?

“…Child characteristics, including poor emotional awareness and frequent negative affect, correlate with child-reported somatic symptoms. 4 Pediatric patients may lack awareness of emotions; instead of perceiving that they are anxious, they perceive that their stomach hurts. This is most notable in patients with recurrent abdominal pain, whereas patients with other somatic complaints, such as fatigue, musculoskeletal pain, or headache, are more emotionally aware and report symptoms associated with depression and anxiety.…”