Psychosomatics
Volume 30, Issue 1, 1989, Pages 34-43

Somatization Among Refugees: An Epidemiologie Study (Article)

Westermeyer J.* , Bouafuely M. , Neider J. , Callies A.
  • a Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States
  • b Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States
  • c Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States
  • d Department of Psychiatry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, United States

Abstract

Somatization has been widely reported among refugee psychiatric patients since World War II, and some psychological theorists have viewed somatization as an alternative to depression. These and other theories were tested in a population survey of 97 Hmong refugees who had lived in the U.S. for several years. Four different measures of somatization were employed, including a 12-item self-rating scale, a single-item global rating based on the total interview, and somatic subscales of the two Hamilton interview-rating scales. These data demonstrate that somatization accompanies certain demographic characteristics that are associated with failure to acculturate. Somatization in this non-patient, refugee population was associated with treatment seeking and self-identified “medical problems” and with psychiatric symptoms and disorders, but not with objective evidence of medical disorder. © 2011, The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. All rights reserved.

Author Keywords

[No Keywords available]

Index Keywords

refugee clinical article somatization human adult
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-0024580076&doi=10.1016%2fS0033-3182%2889%2972315-X&partnerID=40&md5=fc4a470741ceef14c79be7416278d7f7
DOI: 10.1016/S0033-3182(89)72315-X
ISSN: 00333182
Cited by: 54
Original Language: English