[Somatic complaints, emotional awareness and maladjustment in schoolchildren].
BACKGROUND
Somatic complaints are common in childhood. Research has shown their relationship with emotional awareness and maladjustment. The study had three objectives: 1) to analyze the prevalence of somatic complaints; 2) To explore the relationships between the variables evaluated: somatic complaints, differentiating emotions, verbal sharing of emotions, not hiding emotions, body awareness, attending to others' emotions, analysis of emotions, and personal, social, family, and school maladjustments; and 3) To identify predictors of somatic complaints.


METHODS
The study included a total of 1,134 randomly selected schoolchildren of both sexes between 10-12 years old (M=10.99; SD=0.88). The Somatic Complaint List, Emotional Awareness Questionnaire, and Self-reported Multifactor Test of Childhood Adaptation were used to gather information.


RESULTS
The results showed that the prevalence of somatic complaints was 90.2%, with fatigue, headache and stomachache being the most frequently. Dizziness and headache were more common in girls, and the frequency of complaints decreases with age. Somatic complaints are negatively related to emotional awareness, and positively related to maladjustment. The variables that contribute the most to the prediction of somatic complaints are personal maladjustment (25.1%) and differentiating emotions (2.5%).


CONCLUSIONS
The study shows that personal maladjustment is the best predictor of somatic complaints; the more emotional awareness and better adapted the child, the fewer somatic complaints they lodge. Childhood is a stage with significant physical discomfort.
Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Universitat de València, Valencia, España. Electronic address: ana.ordonez@uv.es.
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Ordóñez
Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Universidad del País Vasco, San Sebastián, Guipúzcoa, España.
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Maganto
Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Universitat de València, Valencia, España.
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González
D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D056348:Emotional Intelligence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015995:Prevalence; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology*
Adaptación psicológica; Adaptación social; Emotional intelligence; Inteligencia emocional; Población infantil; Psychological adjustment; Quejas somáticas; School age population; Social adjustment; Somatic complaints