Socialization and psychosomatic disease: an empirical study of the educational style of parents with psychosomatic children.

Starting from the assumption that psychosomatic diseases are distinct from neuroses and different kinds of socialization tend to predispose to the two disorders, the educational style of parents with psychosomatic children (n = 79, 30 bronchial asthma, 19 ulcerative colitis, 30 atopic dermatitis) and with neurotic children (n = 51) was studied. Children and parents were given questionnaires on parental educational attitudes, techniques and goals. Significant differences were found on various dimensions, which indicate for example closer mother-child ties as well as father-child ties in the psychosomatic families. The results from this study are consistent with the concept of a restrictive socialization in psychosomatic families.