title: The attribution of somatic symptoms in psychiatric outpatients.
abstract: The attribution of common somatic symptoms was investigated in 100 psychiatric outpatients. Subjects who were more depressed and alexithymic as measured by the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) tended to endorse a psychological attribution for somatic complaints. Somatosensory amplification, anxiety, and inability to express and report specific feelings predicted psychological attribution. The data support the role of alexithymia in somatization and further explain a possible role of psychological attribution of somatic symptoms in the underrecognition of physical disorders in psychiatric patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, VA, USA.
authors.forename: T N
authors.initials: TN
authors.lastname: Wise
authors.forename: L S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Mann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003071:Cognition; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000523:psychology*