Relationship Between Perceived Stress and Physical Symptoms with Somatic Symptoms Disorder as a Moderating Variable: Study on Medical Student

Abstract

Human as a living creature has two component; body (soma) and mind/soul (psyche). The reciprocal relationship between them has been studied in philosophy and medical field. A supporting theory states "A disturbance in one component would cause a disturbance to the other". Example of the possible disturbance is stress (mentally) or physical pain/symptoms (physically). The theory has a similar definition to a specific clinical disorder; somatic symptoms disorder (SSD) that will be used as a moderator. This study aims to know the relationship between perceived stress (PSS) and physical symptoms (PHQ), and in what level would SSD moderate the relation between both variables. The subjects of this research were 152 medical students whom are doing internship. The data gathered were processed using SPSS and analyzed with regression with moderator model. The results shows a significant relationship between PSS and PHQ (r 2 of 0.40, p=0.000<0.001). The focal predictor shows the moderator only works only for subjects that are categorized on "low" in SSD score. Showing up to 0.2533 scores as effect and p=0.0001<0.001. Linear regression between PSS and PHQ shows an r 2 =0.18, p=0.000<0.001; indicating that with or without SSD, the relationship between PSS and PHQ remain to have a significant relation.

Rumination about the death of a spouse versus the severity of somatic symptom disorder and sleep disturbances in widowed individuals in late adulthood

“…Psychological factors play an important role in the etiology of sleep disturbances and somatic symptom disorder [8,3,9]. The studies conducted so far indicate there is a significant relationship between various somatic complaints and emotional regulation difficulties [10], level of anxiety [9] and distress experienced by individuals [11]. The aim of the present study was to gain a better understanding of the role of emotional regulation (understood in terms of the intensity of intrusive and deliberate rumination about the death of a spouse) in the etiology of sleep disturbances and somatic symptom disorder in individuals struggling with the stress of the death of a spouse (widows and widowers in late adulthood).…”

“…Ważną rolę w etiologii zaburzeń snu oraz zaburzeń pod postacią somatyczną odgrywają czynniki psychologiczne [8,3,9]. Dotychczas prowadzone badania wskazują na istotny związek różnorodnych skarg somatycznych z zaburzeniami regulacji emocjonalnej [10], z poziomem lęku [9] i doświadczanego stresu [11]. Celem niniejszych badań jest lepsze zrozumienie roli regulacji emocjonalnej (rozumianej w kategoriach nasilenia ruminacji natrętnych i celowych) w etiologii zaburzeń snu i objawów pod postacią somatyczną u osób zmagających się ze stresem związanym ze stratą współmałżonka (u osób owdowiałych będących w okresie późnej dorosłości).…”