Developmental predictors of somatic symptoms in adolescents of parents with HIV: a 12-month follow-up.
Adolescents of parents with HIV provide a test for proposed risk factors for somatic symptoms. This study prospectively examined family and developmental predictors of somatic symptoms in a high-risk community sample. A longitudinal latent variable model predicted adolescent somatization scores from the Brief Symptom Inventory 12 months after baseline assessment of 211 parent-adolescent pairs. In this cohort, somatic symptoms during adolescence persisted over time (p <.001) and were predicted by female gender (p <.05). In addition, (1). parental distress over pain predicted adolescent somatic symptoms at baseline and follow-up (p <.001), (2). adolescents who experienced their parents as highly rejecting reported more somatic symptoms at follow-up (p <.001), and (3). school problems correlated with somatic symptoms (p <.001), as well as parental rejection (p <.001), at baseline. These findings underscore potential relationships among parental illness, parent-child relationships, and somatic distress. Adolescents with school problems are particularly vulnerable, at least in the short run. These data support a family-based approach to treatment programs for adolescents with increased levels of somatic distress.
Lester
Patricia
P
Center for Community, Department of Psychiatry, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024, USA. plester@mednet.ucla.edu
Stein
Judith A
JA
Bursch
Brenda
B
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010290:Parents; D000297:Psychology, Adolescent; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires