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Continuity of functional‐somatic symptoms from late childhood to young adulthood in a community sample
Author(s) -
Steinhausen HansChristoph,
Winkler Metzke Christa
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2006.01721.x
Subject(s) - psychology , psychopathology , young adult , headaches , somatic cell , functional impairment , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , biochemistry , chemistry , gene
Background: The goal of this study was to assess the course of functional‐somatic symptoms from late childhood to young adulthood and the associations of these symptoms with young adult psychopathology. Methods: Data were collected in a large community sample at three different points in time (1994, 1997, and 2001). Functional‐somatic symptoms were represented by nine self‐reported items of the Youth Self Report (YSR) or the Young Adult Self Report (YASR). Only definite expressions of these symptoms were counted. Results: Definite functional‐somatic symptoms across time ranged between 1.0 and 2.6% for dizziness, 3.0 and 6.7% for overtiredness, 1.0 and 2.9% for aches and pains, 5.6 and 8.3% for headaches, 1.2 and 1.9% for nausea, 2.5 and 3.0% for stomach‐ache, and .2 and .8% for vomiting. In general, symptoms were more common in females at various times. In high‐scoring subjects there was a significantly higher chance of functional‐somatic symptoms persisting across time. Conclusions: Functional‐somatic symptoms in childhood and adolescents can be easily identified in the community. In high‐scoring subjects they tend to persist from childhood to adulthood.