Memory bias for health-related information in somatoform disorders.
OBJECTIVE
Cognitive processes are considered to be relevant to the etiology and maintenance of somatoform disorders (SFDs). The aim of this study was to assess explicit and implicit information-processing bias for disorder-congruent information in SFDs.


METHODS
A clinical sample of 33 patients suffering from multiple somatoform symptoms (SSI-3/5) and 25 healthy controls performed an encoding task with computer-presented word lists (illness related, negative, positive, neutral content), subsequently followed by explicit memory tests (free recall and recognition) and an implicit test (word-stem completion).


RESULTS
The somatoform group showed a memory bias for illness-related stimuli in the word-stem completion task, whereas the two groups did not differ in explicit memory tests. This effect could not be explained by comorbid depression.


CONCLUSIONS
These results provide some support for current theories on SFDs.
Section for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps-University Marburg, Marburg, Germany. martin@staff.uni-marburg.de
Alexandra
A
Martin
Anika
A
Buech
Christina
C
Schwenk
Winfried
W
Rief
D003071:Cognition; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D030881:Disclosure; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires