Abstract
Symptoms of somatization were investigated in pediatric patients with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) and comparison groups of patients with organic etiology for abdominal pain and well patients. Somatization scores were higher in RAP patients than well patients at the clinic visit, and higher than in either well patients or organic patients at a 3- month followup. Higher somatization scores in mothers and fathers were associated with higher somatization scores in RAP patients, but not in organic or well patients. Contrary to the findings of Ernst, Routh, and Harper (1984), chronicity of abdominal pain in RAP patients was not significantly associated with their level of somatization symptoms. Psychometric information about the Children's Somatization Inventory is presented.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Achenbach, T. M., & Edelbrock, C. (1983).Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and Revised Child Behavior Profile, Burlington: University of Vermont.
American Psychiatric Association. (1980).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychiatric Association. (1987).Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders-revised (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
Apley, J. (1975).The child with abdominal pains. London: Blackwell.
Astrada, C. A., Licamele, W. L., Walsh, T. L., & Kessler, E. S. (1981). Recurrent abdominal pain in children and associated DSM-III diagnosis.American Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 687–688.
Barr, R. G., & Feuerstein, M. (1983). Recurrent abdominal pain syndrome: How appropriate are our basic clinical assumptions? In P. J. McGrath & P. Firestone (Eds.),Pediatric and adolescent behavioral medicine (pp. 13–27). New York: Springer.
Barsky, A. J. (1979). Patients who amplify bodily symptoms.Annals of Internal Medicine, 91, 63–70.
Barsky, A. J., & Herman, G. I. (1983). Overview: Hypochondriasis, bodily complaints, and somatic styles.American Journal of Psychiatry, 140, 273–283.
Beck, A. T., Ward, C. H., Mendelson, M., Mock, J., & Erbaugh, J. (1961). An inventory for measuring depression.Archives of General Psychiatry, 4, 561–571.
Berger, H. G., Honig, P. J., & Liebman, R. (1977). Recurrent abdominal pain: Gaining control of the symptom.American Journal of Diseases of Children, 131, 1340–1344.
Christensen, M. F., & Mortensen, O. (1975). Long-term prognosis in children with recurrent abdominal pain.Archives of Diseases in Childhood, 50, 110–114.
Costa, P. T., Jr., & McCrae, R. R. (1985). Hypochondriasis, neuroticism, and aging: When are somatic complaints unfounded?American Psychologist, 40, 19–28.
Derogatis, L. R., Lipman, R. S., Rickels, K., Uhlenhuth, E. H., & Covi, L. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist.Behavioral Science, 19, 1–15.
Edwards, P. W., Zeichner, A., Kuczmierczyk, A. R., & Boczkowski, J. (1985). Familial pain models: The relationship between family history of pain and current pain experience.Pain, 21, 379–384.
Ernst, A. R., Routh, D. K., & Harper, D. C. (1984). Abdominal pain in children and symptoms of somatization disorder.Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 9, 77–85.
Garber, J., Walker, L. S., & Zeman, J. L. (in press). Somatization symptoms in a community sample of children and adolescents: Further validation of the Children's Somatization Inventory.Psychological Assessment: A Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.
Hodges, K., Kline, J. J., Barbero, G., & Woodruff, C. (1985). Anxiety in children with recurrent abdominal pain and their parents.Psychosomatics, 26, 859–866.
Hollingshead, A. B. (1975).Four factor index of social status. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University, Department of Sociology.
Kashani, J., Orvaschel, H., Burk, J., & Reid, J. (1985). Informant variance: The issue of parentchild agreement.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 437–441.
Katon, W. (1982). Depression: Somatic symptoms and medical disorders in primary care.Comprehensive Psychiatry, 23, 274–287.
Kazdin, A. E., French, N. H., Unis, A. S., & Esveldt-Dawson, K. (1983). Assessment of childhood depression: Correspondence of child and parent ratings.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 22, 157–164.
Kellner, R. (1986).Somatization and hypochondriasis. New York: Praeger.
Kirmayer, L. (1986). Somatization and the social construction of illness. In S. McHugh & T. M. Vallis (Eds.),Illness behavior: A multi disciplinary model (pp. 11–133). New York: Plenum Press.
Kovacs, M. (1980/1981). Rating scales to assess depression in school-aged children.Acta Paedo Psychiatrica, 46, 305–315.
Kovacs, M. (1986). A developmental perspective on methods and measures in the assessment of depressive disorders: The clinical interview. In M. Rutter, C. E. Izard, & P. B. Read (Eds.),Depression in young people: Developmental and clinical perspectives (pp. 435–465). New York: Guilford Press.
Kovacs, M. & Beck, A. T. (1977). An empirical-clinical approach toward a definition of childhood depression. In J. Schulterbrandt & A. Raskin (Eds.),Depression in childhood: Diagnosis, treatment, and conceptual models (pp. 1–25). New York: Raven.
Lesse, L. (1967). Hypochondriasis and psychosomatic disorders masking depression.American Journal of Psychotherapy, 21, 607–620.
Lipowski, Z. J. (1988). Somatization: The concept and its clinical application.American Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 1358–1368.
Lipscomb, P. A., & Katon, W. (1987). Depression and somatization. In O. G. Cameron (Ed.),Presentations of depression (pp. 185–211). New York: Wiley.
Livingston, R., & Martin-Cannici, C. (1985). Multiple somatic complaints and possible somatization disorder in prepubertal children.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24, 603–607.
Minuchin, S., Rosman, B., & Baker, L. (1978).Psychosomatic families. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Newacheck, P. W., & Halfon, N. (1986). The association between mother's and children's use of physician services.Medical Care, 24, 30–38.
Offord, D. R., Boyle, M. H., Szatmari, P., Rae-Grant N. I., Links, P. S., Cadman, D. T., Byles, J. A., Crawford, J. W., Blum, H. M., Byrne, C., Thomas, H., & Woodward, C. A. (1987). Ontario Child Health Study II: Six-month prevalence of disorder and rates of service utilization.Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 832–836.
Orenstein, H. (1989). Briquet's Syndrome in association with depression and panic: A reconceptualization of Briquet's Syndrome.American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 334–338.
Osborne, R. B., Hatcher, J. W., & Richtsmeier, A. J. (1989). The role of social modeling in unexplained pediatric pain.Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 14, 43–61.
Pennebaker, J. W. (1982).The psychology of physical symptoms. New York: Springer.
Rickard, K. (1988). The occurrence of maladaptive health-related behaviors and teacher-rated conduct problems in children of chronic low back pain patients.Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 11, 107–116.
Rodin J. (1978). Somatopsychics and attribution.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 4, 531–540.
Routh, D. K., & Ernst, A. R. (1984). Somatization disorder in relatives of children and adolescents with functional abdominal pain.Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 9, 427–437.
Routh, D. K., Ernst, A. R., & Harper, D. C. (1988). Recurrent abdominal pain in children and somatization disorder. In D. K. Routh (Ed.),Handbook of Pediatric Psychology (pp. 492–504). New York: Guilford Press.
Saylor, C. F., Finch, A. J., Spirito, A., & Bennett, B. (1984). The Children's Depression Inventory: A systematic evaluation of psychometric properties.Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 955–967.
Shapiro, E. G., & Rosenfeld, A. A. (1987).The somatizing child: Diagnosis and treatment of conversion and somatization disorders. New York: Springer.
Sigvardsson, S., Van Knoving, A. L., Bohman, M., & Cloninger, C. R. (1984). An adoption study of somatoform disorders I: The relationship of somatization to psychiatric disability.Archives of General Psychiatry, 41, 853–859.
Spielberger, C. D. (1973).Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Stickler, G. B., & Murphy, D. B. (1979). Recurrent abdominal pain.American Journal of Diseases of Children, 133, 486–489.
Stone, R., & Barbero, G. (1970). Recurrent abdominal pain in childhood.Pediatrics, 45, 732–738.
Walker, L. S., & Greene, J. W. (1989). Children with recurrent abdominal pain and their parents: More somatic complaints, anxiety and depression than other patient families?Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 14, 231–243.
Walker, L. S., & Greene, J. W. (1991). Negative life events and symptom resolution in pediatric abdominal pain patients.Journal of Pediatric Psychology, 16, 341–360.
Whitehead, W. E., Fedoravicius, A. S., Blackwell, B., & Wooley, S. (1979). A behavioral conceptualization of psychosomatic illness: Psychosomatic symptoms as learned responses. In J. R. McNamara (Ed.),Behavioral approaches to medicine: Application and analysis (pp. 65–99). New York: Plenum Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This research was supported by grants from the Vanderbilt University Research Council and from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD2364). Garber was supported in part by the W. T. Grant Foundation Faculty Scholar program during completion of this work. The authors are grateful for the assistance of Fayez K. Ghishan, Harry L. Greene, and Patty Vieira of the Vanderbilt Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Walker, L.S., Garber, J. & Greene, J.W. Somatization symptoms in pediatric abdominal pain patients: Relation to chronicity of abdominal pain and parent somatization. J Abnorm Child Psychol 19, 379–394 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00919084
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00919084