Cerutti Rita, Spensieri Valentina, Valastro Carmela, Presaghi Fabio, Canitano Roberto, Guidetti Vincenzo
Department of Dynamic and Clinic Psychology, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
Department of Psychology of Developmental and Social Processes, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy.
PLoS One. 2017 Feb 8;12(2):e0171867. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0171867. eCollection 2017.
Somatic symptoms are frequently reported by children with significant impairment in functioning. Despite studies on adult populations that suggest somatic symptoms often co-occur with difficulties in identifying and describing feelings, little research has been done in childhood. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and frequency of somatic symptoms as well as to investigate the functional impairment in children with high number of self reported somatic symptoms versus those with fewer somatic symptoms. Additionally the parental perception of their children's somatic symptoms and functioning was explored. Finally, we explored the direct and indirect effects of difficulties in identifying feelings in predicting somatic symptoms and functional disability among school-aged children.
356 Italian school-aged children and their mothers participated in this study. Children (mean age = 11.43; SD = 2.41) completed the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI-24) to assess somatic symptoms, the Functional Disability Inventory (FDI) to assess physical and psychosocial functioning and the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children (AQC) to evaluate alexithymic features. Mothers completed the parental forms of the CSI and the FDI.
Among children, 66.3% did not declare somatic symptoms and 33.7% reported one or more somatic symptoms in the last two weeks. A significant positive correlation emerged between children's and mothers' CSI total scores. Both children's and mothers' FDI total scores were significantly correlated with CSI scores. A significant correlation was observed between somatic symptoms and alexithymic features. Furthermore, the data showed that somatic symptoms mediated the relationship between difficulties in identifying feelings and functional impairment. Finally, it was showed that alexithymia facet of difficulty in identifying feelings contributed in large part to the prediction of the somatic symptomatology (b = 0.978, p < 0.001; R2 = 0.164, F(5, 350) = 10.32, p < 0.001).
Findings from this study provide evidence that a higher frequency of somatic symptoms is associated with functional disabilities and alexithymic facets in school-aged children.
有明显功能损害的儿童经常报告躯体症状。尽管针对成年人群的研究表明，躯体症状常常与识别和描述情感方面的困难同时出现，但在儿童期却鲜有研究。本研究旨在调查躯体症状的患病率和频率，并调查自我报告躯体症状较多的儿童与躯体症状较少的儿童的功能损害情况。此外，还探讨了父母对其子女躯体症状和功能的看法。最后，我们探讨了识别情感困难在预测学龄儿童躯体症状和功能残疾方面的直接和间接影响。
356名意大利学龄儿童及其母亲参与了本研究。儿童（平均年龄 = 11.43；标准差 = 2.41）完成了儿童躯体化量表（CSI - 24）以评估躯体症状，完成了功能残疾量表（FDI）以评估身体和心理社会功能，并完成了儿童述情障碍问卷（AQC）以评估述情障碍特征。母亲们完成了CSI和FDI的家长版问卷。
在儿童中，66.3%在过去两周内未报告躯体症状，33.7%报告了一种或多种躯体症状。儿童和母亲的CSI总分之间存在显著正相关。儿童和母亲的FDI总分均与CSI得分显著相关。躯体症状与述情障碍特征之间存在显著相关性。此外，数据表明躯体症状介导了识别情感困难与功能损害之间的关系。最后，结果显示识别情感困难这一述情障碍方面在很大程度上有助于预测躯体症状（b = 0.978，p < 0.001；R2 = 0.164，F(5, 350) = 10.32，p < 0.001）。
本研究结果提供了证据，表明较高频率的躯体症状与学龄儿童的功能残疾和述情障碍方面有关。
