title: Assessment of somatic symptoms in British secondary school children using the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI).
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present normative and psychometric data on somatic symptoms using the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI) in a nonclinical sample of British young people, and to assess associations with stress and functional impairment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 1,173 students (11- to 16-years old) completed the CSI and self-report psychopathology measures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The median CSI total score was 12 (5, 23). Headaches, feeling low in energy, sore muscles, faintness, and nausea were most frequent. Girls scored higher than boys, and respondents aged 13-14 years lower than younger children. The CSI showed good internal consistency and exploratory factor analysis yielded three factors: pain/weakness, gastrointestinal, and pseudoneurological. A quarter of respondents reported somatic symptoms were made worse by stress. CSI scores were moderately significantly correlated with impairment and emotional symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CSI, complemented by information on functional impairment and stress is an appropriate measure of recent somatic symptoms and somatization risk in young people for use in the UK.
authors.affiliation: Imperial College London.
authors.forename: Mar
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vila
authors.forename: Tami
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hickey
authors.forename: Meera
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dattani
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jefferis
authors.forename: Mandeep
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: M Elena
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Garralda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009325:Nausea / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011594:Psychometrics; D012647:Self-Assessment; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires