Life stress and psychosomatic symptoms among 14 to 16-year old Finnish adolescents

Aro, Hillevi

doi:10.1017/s0033291700013088

Cited by 83 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…[9][10][11][12] The prevalence of functional somatic symptoms is found to increase with age and to be gender dependent, especially in older age groups. 13,14 Many children are found to suffer from multiple pains, 10,15 most commonly from the combination of headache and abdominal pain. 15 Only a few studies have examined changes in the prevalence of children's somatic symptoms with time.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Have There Been Changes in Children's Psychosomatic Symptoms? A 10-Year Comparison From Finland

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Objectives. The aims of the study were to determine whether the prevalence of children's somatic symptoms, such as headache, abdominal pain, other pain, and nausea and vomiting, changed from 1989 to 1999 and to study the similarity of parents' and children's reports of the child's symptoms. Furthermore, the aims were to explore possible comorbidity in somatic symptoms and to investigate the associations between somatic and psychiatric symptoms.Methods. Two cross-sectional, representative samples were compared. All children born in 1981 (1989 sample, n ‫؍‬ 985) and 1991 (1999 sample, n ‫؍‬ 962) and living in selected school districts in southwest Finland served as study samples. The response rate for the 1989 sample was 95% and that for the 1999 sample was 86%. Both children and parents were asked about the children's somatic symptoms, whereas parents, children, and teachers were asked about psychiatric symptoms. To study psychiatric symptoms, the Children's Depression Inventory and Rutter's parent and teacher scales were used.Results. The prevalence of frequent headaches and abdominal pain increased somewhat from 1989 to 1999. Parents often failed to recognize their children's psychosomatic problems. Child-reported somatic symptoms were associated with conduct and hyperactivity symptoms, in addition to a previously well-documented association with depression. In associations between somatic symptoms and psychiatric symptoms, there were some differences between the 1989 and 1999 samples.Conclusions. In clinical work, questions about somatic and psychiatric symptoms should also be addressed to children themselves, because parents and teachers do not always recognize children's symptoms. When somatic problems are being evaluated, psychiatric symptoms should be asked about, and vice versa. More research is needed to explore the reasons for the increased prevalence of somatic symptoms and their associations with psychiatric symptoms. Pediatrics 2005; 115:e434-e442. URL: www.pediatrics.org/cgi

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Have There Been Changes in Children's Psychosomatic Symptoms? A 10-Year Comparison From Finland

et al. 2005

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, nearly all scores fell within the normal range, as did also the CBCL scores in another study on children with RAP (Stordal et al, 2001). Stressful life events have been shown to associate with functional GI disorders in children and in adolescents (Aro, 1987;Robinson et al, 1990;Walker et al, 1994Walker et al, , 2001). Higher rates of anxiety, depression, and somatic complaints are also found in patients with organic GI problems than in control patients (Walker and Greene, 1989).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 71%

Food habits in 10–11-year-old children with functional gastrointestinal disorders

et al. 2004

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective: To evaluate the role of food habits and nutrient intake in children with functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) considering their association with psychosocial factors. Design: Cross-sectional. Setting: A rural town in Mid-Western Finland. Subjects: After excluding organic gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, a total of 49 children with FGID and 78 control children without GI symptoms from a cohort of 422 children were studied. Methods: Food frequency questionnaire, GI-symptoms questionnaire and the Child Behaviour Check List (CBCL) filled in by parents together with their child, and 24-h dietary recall and anthropometric and haematological measurements. Results: Compared to control children, fewer children with FGID had daily family dinner (77 vs 91%, P ¼ 0.030) and they used less often vegetables (P ¼ 0.023), fruits (P ¼ 0.027) and berries (P ¼ 0.011), but more often ice cream (P ¼ 0.018) and soft drinks (P ¼ 0.027) and had a higher sucrose intake (9 vs 7E%, P ¼ 0.032) and lower lactose intake (27 vs 36 g, P ¼ 0.001). Reported food-related symptoms were more common among FGID group (69 vs 11%), as well as restricted milk use (31 vs 0%). Children with FGID had higher total problem scores in CBCL (P ¼ 0.002), and the behavioural/emotional problems associated with occurrence of FGID (OR 1.04, 95% CI 1.07-1.076) as did the sugar intake (OR 1.1, 95% CI 1.004-1.215).Conclusions: This population-based study suggests that school-aged children with FGIDs have less-organized food habits and higher milk avoidance, and they display internalizing psychological characteristics. IntroductionFunctional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are defined as a combination of chronic or recurrent gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in the absence of diagnosed disease. A number of common paediatric disorders falls into this category, for example, infant regurgitation, chronic nonspecific diarrhoea, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), nonulcer dyspepsia, infant dyschezia, and functional constipation (Hyams, 1999;Rasquin-Weber et al, 1999;Thompson et al, 1999).It is well known that psychopathology plays an important role in FGIDs. Gut function is controlled by a complex neural network and the current understanding is that FGIDs result from dysregulation of the bidirectional communication between the brain and the gut (ie the brain-gut axis), modulated by various psychosocial factors. Recently, instead of searching unidirectional relationship between psychosocial events and GI function, research has shifted to evaluate the reciprocal interaction between physiologic and psychosocial processes in these disorders Ringel and Drossman, 1999). More psychological problems and stressors have been found in children with recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) and in those with organic GI disorder as compared to GI patients without symptoms or healthy control children (Sawyer et al, 1987;Walker and Greene, 1989;Robinson et al, 1990;Walker et al, 2001). There is also some evidence that FGIDs may be more common in children coming from low social class ...

show abstract

“…With increasing age, girls more often than boys react with psychosomatic symptoms in response to interpersonal con icts in the family and among friends (13). Passchier found that headache in schoolchildren was associated with fear of failure and school problems, stronger and increasing with age in girls (12).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Headache and associations with lifestyle among pupils in senior level elementary school

Leonardsson-Hellgren

2001

Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Life stress and psychosomatic symptoms among 14 to 16-year old Finnish adolescents

Cited by 83 publications

References 25 publications

Have There Been Changes in Children's Psychosomatic Symptoms? A 10-Year Comparison From Finland

Have There Been Changes in Children's Psychosomatic Symptoms? A 10-Year Comparison From Finland

Food habits in 10–11-year-old children with functional gastrointestinal disorders

Headache and associations with lifestyle among pupils in senior level elementary school

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About