TY - JOUR
T1 - Somatic distress as a distinct psychological dimension
AU - Gillespie, N.
AU - Kirk, K. M.
AU - Heath, A. C.
AU - Martin, N. G.
AU - Hickie, I.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This work was supported by NIH grants AA04535, AA07728, and AA10249 and NHMRC (Australia) grants 941177, and 971232. We thank the staff from QIMR Epidemiology Unit for administering the mail-out, and Olivia Zheng and John Pearson for data management. We especially thank the twins, who were drawn from the Australian NH&MRC Twin Registry, for their cooperation.
PY - 1999/9
Y1 - 1999/9
N2 - Background: Somatoform disorders such as neurasthenia and chronic fatigue are characterized by a combination of prolonged fatigue and disabling neuropsychological and neuromuscular symptoms. However, the debate concerning the theoretical underpinnings of somatic disorders resembles the perennial dispute over the taxonomy of anxiety and depression. The objective of this study is to analyse the dimensional structure of items measuring anxiety, depression, phobic anxiety, somatic distress, and insomnia. It is anticipated that somatic distress should emerge as empirically distinct from measures of anxiety and depression, thereby lending support to proponents of the construct as independent of both anxiety and depression symptomatology. Methods: A 33-item self-report symptom inventory derived from the SCL-90 and DSSI/sAD scales was used to measure recently experienced psychiatric distress in the form of depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, somatic distress, and insomnia. SCL and DSSI/sAD items were measured on a four-point distress scale from 1 'not-at-all' to 4 'unbearably'. The inventory was administered to a community-based sample of 3468 Australian twins between the ages of 18 and 28. Results: Factor analysis using Polychoric correlations and a Promax rotation criterion produced four factors: depression, phobic anxiety, somatic distress, and sleep disturbance. Conclusion: Results from the current factor analysis, together with the documented prevalence of somatic disorders, including evidence regarding the genetic and biological independence of somatic symptomatology, lend support to the argument that somatic symptoms, although correlated, are independent of anxiety and depression.
AB - Background: Somatoform disorders such as neurasthenia and chronic fatigue are characterized by a combination of prolonged fatigue and disabling neuropsychological and neuromuscular symptoms. However, the debate concerning the theoretical underpinnings of somatic disorders resembles the perennial dispute over the taxonomy of anxiety and depression. The objective of this study is to analyse the dimensional structure of items measuring anxiety, depression, phobic anxiety, somatic distress, and insomnia. It is anticipated that somatic distress should emerge as empirically distinct from measures of anxiety and depression, thereby lending support to proponents of the construct as independent of both anxiety and depression symptomatology. Methods: A 33-item self-report symptom inventory derived from the SCL-90 and DSSI/sAD scales was used to measure recently experienced psychiatric distress in the form of depression, anxiety, phobic anxiety, somatic distress, and insomnia. SCL and DSSI/sAD items were measured on a four-point distress scale from 1 'not-at-all' to 4 'unbearably'. The inventory was administered to a community-based sample of 3468 Australian twins between the ages of 18 and 28. Results: Factor analysis using Polychoric correlations and a Promax rotation criterion produced four factors: depression, phobic anxiety, somatic distress, and sleep disturbance. Conclusion: Results from the current factor analysis, together with the documented prevalence of somatic disorders, including evidence regarding the genetic and biological independence of somatic symptomatology, lend support to the argument that somatic symptoms, although correlated, are independent of anxiety and depression.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0032819512&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s001270050219
DO - 10.1007/s001270050219
M3 - Article
C2 - 10541664
AN - SCOPUS:0032819512
SN - 0933-7954
VL - 34
SP - 451
EP - 458
JO - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
JF - Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
IS - 9
ER -