Research Paper: Relationship Between Traumatic Experiences and Somatic Symptoms Severity in Students مقالة

Objective: The present research aimed to study the relationship between traumatic experiences and somatic symptoms severity in students. Methods: This research was a cross-sectional study. The study population included all students of the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran. The study sample consisted of 264 healthy adult university students, who were selected using a convenience sampling method. Participants were asked to fill out two self-report measures: Patient Health Questionnaire Physical Symptoms and Traumatic Experiences Checklist. The study data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. All analyses were conducted using SPSS20. Results: Based on the obtained results, a significant relationship was found between traumatic experiences and somatic symptoms severity (P<0.01). Multiple regression analysis indicated that emotional neglect significantly predicted 23% of somatic symptoms severity (P<0.001). In addition, no significant correlation was found between physical abuse, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and emotional abuse with somatic symptoms severity. Conclusion: Study results indicated that traumatic experiences, especially emotional neglect, are important in the prediction of somatic symptoms severity.

"Research Paper: Relationship Between Traumatic Experiences and Somatic Symptoms Severity in Students Shahin Sadeghi1, Behrooz Dolatshahi1*, Abbas Pourshahbaz1, Majid Zarei1, Maryam Kami1 1. 211 Article info: Received: 10 Jan. 2017 Accepted: 01 May 2017 Keywords: Somatic symptoms, Childhood trauma, Child maltreatment, Somatoform disorder A B S T R A C T Objective: The present research aimed to study the relationship between traumatic experiences and somatic symptoms severity in students. Conclusion: Study results indicated that traumatic experiences, especially emotional neglect, are important in the prediction of somatic symptoms severity . 4. Discussion The goal of the present study was to examine the re- lationship between traumatic experiences and somatic symptoms severity among the students at the University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences. The find- ings indicated a positive association between traumatic experiences and somatic symptoms severity; this is con- sistent with the findings of Näring &amp; Nijenhuis (2005) who found a positive relationship between traumatic experiences and somatoform dissociation. Early life traumatic experiences increase the likelihood of drug abuse and poor mental and physical health during adulthood (Mersky, Topitzes, &amp; Reynolds, 2013). Pa- pers published in clinical journals on such conditions as anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromy- algia, chronic pain, IBS, and syndromes characterized by multifold somatic symptoms related to psychological dis- tress, often contained a possible association with child- hood abuse (Springer, Sheridan, Kuo, &amp; Carnes, 2007). In addition, the study results can help researchers and clinicians consider traumatic experiences as a risk factor for the development of mental disorders, including somatic symptoms."