Citation

Hart SL, Hodgkinson SC, Belcher HM, Hyman C, Cooley-Strickland MR. J. Behav. Med. 2013; 36(5): 454-465.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Howard University, Washington, DC, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10865-012-9440-2

PMID

22772584

Abstract

Somatic symptoms are a common physical response to stress and illness in childhood. This study assessed 409, primarily African American (85.6 %), urban elementary school children to examine the association between: (1) somatic symptoms and potential external stressors (school and peer stress, family conflict, and community violence) and (2) parent and child agreement on children's self-report of somatic symptoms. The odds of self-report of somatic complaints were significantly associated with family conflict, school and peer stress, and community violence exposure (OR = 1.26, 95 % CI: 1.05-1.50; OR = 1.18, 95 % CI 1.08-1.28; and OR = 1.02, 95 % CI: 1.00-1.05, respectively). Identifying the associations between social, family, and community based stress and somatic symptoms may improve the quality of life for children living in urban environments through early identification and treatment.

Language: en