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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on September 9, 2008
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsn093
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© The Author 2008. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Children's Somatization Inventory: Psychometric Properties of the Revised Form (CSI-24)

Lynn S. Walker, PhD1, Joy E. Beck, PhD1,2, Judy Garber, PhD3 and Warren Lambert, PhD4

1Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 2Department of Psychology, Vanderbilt University, 3Department of Psychology and Human Development, Vanderbilt University, and 4Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Evaluation & Program Improvement

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Lynn S. Walker, Division of Adolescent Medicine and Behavioral Science, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, 11128 Doctors’ Office Tower, Nashville, TN 37232-3571. E-mail: lynn.walker{at}vanderbilt.edu


  Abstract

Objective To conduct a multimethod psychometric evaluation to refine the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI) and to investigate its dimensionality. Method The CSI was administered to 876 pediatric patients with chronic abdominal pain at their initial visit to a pediatric gastroenterology clinic. Tools from three psychometric models identified items that most effectively measured the construct of somatization and examined its dimensionality. Results Eleven statistically weak items were identified and removed, creating a 24-item CSI (CSI-24). The CSI-24 showed good psychometrics according to the three measurement models and correlated.99 with the original CSI. The CSI-24 has one dominant general factor but is not strictly unidimensional. Conclusions The CSI-24 is a reliable and psychometrically sound refinement of the original CSI. Findings are consistent with the view that somatization has a strong general factor that represents a continuum of symptom reporting, as well as minor components that represent specific symptom clusters in youth with chronic abdominal pain.

Key words: Children's Somatization Inventory; chronic abdominal pain; factor analysis; functional disorders; item response theory; medically unexplained symptoms; somatic symptoms.

Received February 5, 2008; revision received August 11, 2008; accepted August 12, 2008


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