Somatic complaints and health care use in children: Mood, emotion awareness and sense of coherence

Jellesma, Francine C.; Rieffe, Carolien; Terwogt, Mark Meerum; Kneepkens, C. M. F.

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.07.004

Cited by 73 publications

(81 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This assumption was tested by comparing a group of children with many somatic complaints vs. a group of children with few somatic complaints on different emotion indices. The frequently noted alexithymic characteristics based on self-reports (Burba et al, 2006;Jellesma et al, 2006;Meade et al, 2001;Rieffe et al, 2006) seemed to be replicated in this study. However, children's answers on the different emotion tasks and a more in-depth analysis of children's self-reports gave more nuanced insights into the exact problems and difficulties of children with many somatic complaints with respect to their emotional functioning.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

“…A review of these studies indicates that self-reports of alexithymia are indeed positively related to reports of somatic symptoms (De Gucht & Heiser, 2003). More recent studies also confirm this relationship between self-reported alexithymia and somatic complaints in childhood (Burba et al, 2006, Jellesma, Rieffe, Meerum Terwogt, & Kneepkens, 2006Meade, Lumley, & Casey, 2001;Rieffe, Oosterveld & Meerum Terwogt, 2006). The outcomes of these studies seem to imply that children with alexithymic characteristics might be more susceptible for developing somatic complaints.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

“…The sources of negative moods are therefore hard to define and it is not always possible for people to understand why they are in a negative mood (Beedie, Terry & Lane, 2005). Based on the previously mentioned poor emotion regulation of children with many somatic complaints, strong associations between negative moods and somatic complaints in childhood can be expected, and indeed have been reported in previous studies (Campo et al, 2004;Diepenmaat, van der Wal, de Vet, & Hirasing, 2006;Jellesma et al, 2006;Muris & Meesters, 2004). Thus, it is highly likely that the children reporting somatic complaints experience more emotional distress compared to their peers who report few somatic complaints (Campo et al; Diepenmaat et al; Jellesma et al; Muris & Meesters).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Moreover, sadness and fear are emotions typically associated with feelings of lower control, and are evoked by situations that are perceived as difficult to change (Kalat & Shiota, 2007). Children with many somatic complaints indeed more often confirm that they perceive situations in life as less controllable (Jellesma et al, 2006). The third step of emotion processing, applying emotion regulation strategies, could therefore expected to be less effective in children with many somatic complaints.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Do I feel sadness, fear or both? Comparing self-reported alexithymia and emotional task-performance in children with many or few somatic complaints

Jellesma

Rieffe

Terwogt³

et al. 2009

Psychology & Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Children with many somatic complaints seem to report problems with emotion identification and communication ('alexithymia'). The aim of this study was to verify whether children with somatic complaints do indeed show signs of alexithymia. We compared 35 children (M age ¼ 10.99, SD ¼ 13 months) with many somatic complaints with 34 children (M age ¼ 11.03, SD ¼ 12 months) reporting few complaints on the basis of a self-report alexithymia scale and tasks that require the skill to identify and communicate emotions: an emotional attention task, a structured interview about own emotions, and a mixed-emotion task. Children were also asked about the intensity of the reported emotions. Compared to children with few complaints, children with many complaints seemed to have higher self-reports of alexithymia. However, these results were explained by difficulty in communicating negative internal states and experiencing indefinable internal states, rather than difficulty in identifying emotions. In addition, children with many complaints reported higher intensities of fear and sadness. The children did not differ in their attention to emotions or causes of emotions. Children with many somatic complaints more often described previous emotional experiences and showed better abilities in identifying multiple emotions. Children with many somatic complaints thus show more negative emotional processing, but the alexithymia-hypothesis was unsupported.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 65%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 64%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Do I feel sadness, fear or both? Comparing self-reported alexithymia and emotional task-performance in children with many or few somatic complaints

Jellesma

Rieffe

Terwogt³

et al. 2009

Psychology & Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Often, there is no medical cause for somatic complaints [34], leaving these findings in 80 % of the cases to be related to anxiety, and in approximately 40 % of the cases related to depression [12,14,35,36]. Both Egger and colleagues [12] and Holmberg [14] demonstrated a significant association with ADHD and abdominal pain, neither one considered the possibility of ADHD as comorbid with depression or anxiety.…”

Section: Somatic Complaints In Children With Adhd And/or Depression/amentioning

confidence: 99%

ADHD with Co-Occurring Depression/Anxiety in Children: The Relationship with Somatic Complaints and Parental Socio-Economic Position

Leirbakk¹,

Clench‐Aas²,

Raanaas³

2015

J Psychol Abnorm Child

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and depression/anxiety are often comorbid in children, and consequences of ADHD are more detrimental in lower socioeconomic levels. The aim of this study was to compare co-occurrence of ADHD and depression/anxiety with ADHD alone and depression/anxiety alone when the outcome measure is somatic complaints. Additionally, we examined whether low parental Socio-Economic Position (SEP) were related to occurrence of ADHD alone, depression/anxiety alone, and co-occurrence. The sample consisted of 12,900 parents who participated in a cross-sectional health survey that included Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and impact supplement. Socio-economic factors were dichotomized into low versus average/high parental socio-economic position (SEP), abdominal pain, neck pain and headache were categorized as somatic complaints. Parents described 58 % of the children with ADHD as comorbid with depression/anxiety. Children with ADHD only report somatic complaints when thedisorder is co-occurring with depression/anxiety. The prevalence of ADHD, depression/ anxiety, or a combination of the two disorders in children, is higher when parents have a low socio-economic position. Increased awareness of the heterotypic nature of ADHD is needed, especially when interpreting somatic complaints. There is a pattern of an inverse relationship between mental health and socio-economic position in children when measured by ADHD and depression/anxiety.

show abstract

Emotion awareness and somatic complaints in preadolescence: The mediating role of coping strategies

Mazzone

Camodeca

2017

Infant and Child Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Somatic complaints are frequent among preadolescents with impaired emotion awareness and maladaptive coping strategies. In addition, coping strategies in response to stressful events have been suggested to affect the association between emotion awareness and somatic complaints. However, empirical support for this assumption is missing. In this study, we examined the extent to which emotion awareness and coping contributed uniquely to somatic complaints and the indirect effect of emotion awareness on somatic complaints through coping strategies, among preadolescent boys and girls. Self‐reports were administered to 265 preadolescents (137 boys; Mage = 12.04) to investigate somatic complaints, emotion awareness, and coping strategies to deal with peer victimization. A subsample (N = 97) was assessed after a 12‐month time‐span. Cross‐sectional results indicated that more somatic complaints were associated with less emotion awareness and problem‐solving and with more internalizing and externalizing coping. Poor emotion awareness was indirectly associated with somatic complaints through internalizing for boys and through distraction, externalizing, and internalizing for girls. Emotion awareness was longitudinally associated with somatic complaints through distraction for boys. Overall, findings suggested that less emotion awareness was associated with more maladaptive coping strategies, which in turn contributed to more somatic complaints. Implications for research and intervention are discussed. Highlights The present study investigated the associations between somatic complaints, emotion awareness, and coping strategies among preadolescent boys and girls. Self‐report data were collected. Results showed that poor emotion awareness was indirectly associated with somatic complaints through internalizing for boys and through distraction, externalizing, and internalizing for girls. Improving emotion awareness and effective coping strategies may reduce somatic complaints among preadolescents and offer them a better social and psychological adjustment.

show abstract

Somatic complaints and health care use in children: Mood, emotion awareness and sense of coherence

Cited by 73 publications

References 27 publications

Do I feel sadness, fear or both? Comparing self-reported alexithymia and emotional task-performance in children with many or few somatic complaints

Do I feel sadness, fear or both? Comparing self-reported alexithymia and emotional task-performance in children with many or few somatic complaints

ADHD with Co-Occurring Depression/Anxiety in Children: The Relationship with Somatic Complaints and Parental Socio-Economic Position

Emotion awareness and somatic complaints in preadolescence: The mediating role of coping strategies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About