Alexithymia and Attachment Style in Patients With Somatic Symptoms

Meyer Children's Hospital IRCCS

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Somatic Symptom Disorder

Treatments: Other: psychological assessment

Study type: Observational

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT05666921

somatic symptoms

Details and patient eligibility

About

To evaluate whether emotional awareness, attachment style and the ability to abstract and symbolize (IQ) influence the appearance of somatic symptoms. Hypothesis: the investigators expect the presence of somatic symptoms linked to the lower ability of emotional awareness, to lower ability to abstract and symbolize and to an insecure attachment style.

Full description

Somatic Symptom Disorder (eg pain, weakness, chronic fatigue) represents one of the main reasons why patients seek specialist medical advice. Although the symptoms often manifest themselves in a disabling form and there are numerous medical examinations to which patients undergo, these do not seem to find an organic confirmation to their problem and consequently the patients do not receive a specific diagnosis. These are usually transient symptoms but it can happen that they become persistent and chronic, going to constitute themselves as real somatic syndromes. The study investigates the psychological and family aspects that seem to characterize somatic and chronic pain symptoms in pediatric age. In addition to this objective, the study aims to quantify the health costs incurred in the diagnostic phase prior to the classification of the somatic symptom. These elements would make it possible to achieve greater knowledge of clinical pictures and the identification of useful markers for the clinician to make early diagnoses and guide patients in a global and timely care.

Enrollment: 300 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 11 to 17 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Clinical condition characterized by somatic symptoms such as recurrent abdominal pain, recurrent vomiting, dyspepsia, psychogenic cough, and chronic functional pain (headache, migraine, musculoskeletal pain) for which an organic cause has been excluded and whose symptom has had a strong impact on the quality of life (presence of the symptom for six months, school absenteeism, social isolation, immobility, psychological distress, difficulty in participating in sports and extracurricular activities, etc.), as per Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) criteria.
• Age between 11 and 17 years
• Italian speaking
• Patients' and parents' consent

Exclusion criteria

• Cognitive and/or developmental impairment
• Difficulty in understanding the Italian language
• Presence of organic disease diagnosis
• Lack of informed consent
• Patient who does not meet DSM-5 criteria for somatic symptom disorder

Caregiver exclusion criteria:

• Cognitive deficits
• Difficulty in understanding the Italian language
• Lack of informed consent

Control group population inclusion criteria:

• Age between 11 and 17 years
• Adequate knowledge of the Italian language
• Consent to participate

Trial design

300 participants in 2 patient groups

Pediatric patients

Description:

The group is made up of pediatric patients, and an accompanying caregiver, belonging to the functional chronic pain clinic of Pain Therapy and Palliative Care, to the Gastroenterology and Nutrition Unit, to the Bronchopneumology Unit and Medical Pediatrics as well as to the Pediatric Psychology Unit, who present with somatic symptom disorders.

Treatment:

Other: psychological assessment

Control group

Description:

The population of the control group, recruited through informal channels according to a sampling of convenience, will be enrolled on the basis of the expected inclusion criteria.

Treatment:

Other: psychological assessment