Department of Psychology, University of Macau, Taipa, Macao.
Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2012 Nov;46(11):1053-7. doi: 10.1177/0004867412450077. Epub 2012 Jun 13.
Somatic presentations of distress are common cross-culturally and are thought to predominate in Asian cultures such as that of China. From an etic perspective, researchers utilizing empirically validated standardized assessment measures find that somatic symptoms are no more common in individuals of Chinese descent than they are in individuals of European descent. In contrast, patient presentations are heavily influenced by culture and are associated with patterns of illness behavior. The objective of the current review is to determine the culture-specific factors contributing to somatic presentations and descriptions of distress in China.
The current review was based on a literature search of PubMed and PsychInfo using the terms 'China,' 'Asia,' 'somatoform,' 'somatization,' and 'psychogenic.'
Factors contributing to somatic presentations of distress in China include stigma and help-seeking behavior, and assessment approaches that ignore culture-specific patterns of symptom reporting, fail to incorporate somatic metaphor and Chinese conceptualizations of distress that emphasize bodily sensation, and ignore the role that culture-specific normative data and culture specific response patterns may produce on assessment results.
From an emic perspective, there are numerous factors contributing to the appearance of a predominantly somatic presentation of distress in China. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.
痛苦的躯体表现是跨文化中常见的现象，据认为在中国等亚洲文化中更为突出。从一个外在的角度来看，研究人员利用经过实证验证的标准化评估方法发现，有中文背景的个体的躯体症状并不比有欧洲背景的个体更为常见。相比之下，患者的表现深受文化的影响，并与疾病行为模式相关。本综述的目的是确定导致中国躯体痛苦表现和描述的文化特异性因素。
本综述基于对 PubMed 和 PsychInfo 中使用术语“中国”、“亚洲”、“躯体形式”、“躯体化”和“心因性”进行文献检索。
导致中国躯体痛苦表现的因素包括耻辱感和寻求帮助的行为，以及评估方法忽视了文化特异性的症状报告模式、未能纳入躯体隐喻和强调身体感觉的中文痛苦概念化，以及忽视了文化特异性的规范数据和文化特异性的反应模式可能对评估结果产生的影响。
从一个内在的角度来看，有许多因素导致了中国躯体痛苦表现的主要表现。讨论了对临床实践的影响。
