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Journal of Pediatric Psychology Advance Access published online on February 17, 2009
Journal of Pediatric Psychology, doi:10.1093/jpepsy/jsp005
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© The Author 2009. 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

Assessment of Somatic Symptoms in British Secondary School Children Using the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI)

Mar Vila, LMS, Tami Kramer, MBBCh, MRCPsych, Nicole Hickey, MSc, Meera Dattani, MBBS, Helen Jefferis, MBBS, Mandeep Singh, MBBS and M. Elena Garralda, FRCPsych, FRCPCH

Imperial College London

All correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Prof. Elena Garralda, Academic Unit of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 3rd Floor QEQM Building, Imperial College, St Mary's Campus, Norfolk Place, London W2 1PG, UK. E-mail: e.garralda{at}imperial.ac.uk.


  Abstract

Objective To present normative and psychometric data on somatic symptoms using the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI) in a nonclinical sample of British young people, and to assess associations with stress and functional impairment. Methods A total of 1,173 students (11- to 16-years old) completed the CSI and self-report psychopathology measures. Results The median CSI total score was 12 (5, 23). Headaches, feeling low in energy, sore muscles, faintness, and nausea were most frequent. Girls scored higher than boys, and respondents aged 13–14 years lower than younger children. The CSI showed good internal consistency and exploratory factor analysis yielded three factors: pain/weakness, gastrointestinal, and pseudoneurological. A quarter of respondents reported somatic symptoms were made worse by stress. CSI scores were moderately significantly correlated with impairment and emotional symptoms. Conclusions The CSI, complemented by information on functional impairment and stress is an appropriate measure of recent somatic symptoms and somatization risk in young people for use in the UK.

Key words: adolescents; children; somatic symptoms; somatization..

Received August 15, 2008; revision received January 8, 2009; accepted January 9, 2009


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