title: Associations of somatic symptom attribution in Turkish patients with major depression.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There are differences across ethno-cultural groups in the degree of somatization among patients with major depressive disorder (MDD). Studies showed that the attribution style of somatic symptoms is an important predictor of health outcome in depressed patients.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aims of this study were to investigate associations of psychologizing, normalizing and somatizing attribution styles as measured by the Symptom Interpretation Questionnaire (SIQ) in Turkish patients with MDD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety patients who were diagnosed with a major depressive episode using a semi-structured interview were administered the SIQ to assess attribution styles, each of which was regressed on age, gender, educational level, depressive symptom severity, tendency for somatosensory amplification, current somatic symptoms and alexithymia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Scores on somatizing, psychologizing and normalizing attribution subscales of the SIQ were strongly correlated with each other. Somatosensory amplification and alexithymia were independent correlates of somatizing attributions. Higher levels of psychologizing and normalizing attributions were both related to more severe symptoms of depression and to somatosensory amplification.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggested that patients with higher levels of depressive symptoms were more likely to engage in a greater diversity of attribution styles as measured by the SIQ in our sample. Independent correlates of somatic symptom attribution in patients with MDD were found to be different from Western countries, suggestive of disparate cultural characteristics and help-seeking pathways and behaviour in Turkey.
authors.affiliation: Okan Taycan, M.D., Psychiatrist, Department of Psychiatry, Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital , Istanbul , Turkey.
authors.forename: Okan
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Taycan
authors.forename: Armagan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ozdemir
authors.forename: Serap
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Erdogan-Taycan
authors.forename: Tomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jurcik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D003863:Depression / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D003865:Major Depressive Disorder / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Cultural characteristics; Depression; Somatic symptom attribution; Somatization