title: Age- and sex-specific associations between adverse life events and functional bodily symptoms in the general population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To test age- and sex-specific associations between adverse life events and functional bodily symptoms (FBS) in the general population.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a population-based cohort, 964 participants (mean age 55 years SD 11, 48% male) completed two measurements waves of the present study. Lifetime exposure to 12 adverse life events was assessed through a modified version of the List of Threatening Experiences. Stress-sensitive personality was assessed with the 12-item neuroticism scale of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Revised. Socio-economic status was retrieved from questionnaires. Participants completed the somatization section of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview to survey the presence of 42 FBS in the previous year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Regression analyses, adjusted for age, revealed that lifetime scores of adverse life events were significantly associated with FBS in the previous year, an association that was nearly identical for females (beta=0.18, t=4.07, p<0.01) and males (beta=0.19, t=4.24, p<0.01). This association remained statistically significant when stress-sensitive personality and socio-economic status were added to the model. Associations between adverse life events during childhood and FBS were statistically significant in females (beta=0.13, t=2.90, p=0.04) but not in males (beta=0.06, t=1.24, p=0.22), whereas there was a stronger association with adverse life events during adulthood in males (beta=0.20, t=4.37, p<0.01) compared to females (beta=0.15, t=3.38, p=0.01). Life events in the previous year were not associated with FBS in the previous year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adverse life events during lifetime were associated with FBS in the previous year. This association was dependent on age and sex but largely independent of having a stress-sensitive personality or low socio-economic status. Future studies could adopt a life course perspective to study the role of adverse life events in FBS.
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion regulation, Groningen, The Netherlands; Dimence, Institute for Mental Health Care, Deventer, The Netherlands. Electronic address: L.Tak@dimence.nl.
authors.forename: Lineke M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Tak
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion regulation, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: E.M.Kingma@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: Eva M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Kingma
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion regulation, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: S.L.van.Ockenburg@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: Sonja L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: van Ockenburg
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion regulation, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: J.Ormel@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: Johan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ormel
authors.affiliation: University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Interdisciplinary Center Psychopathology and Emotion regulation, Groningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: J.G.M.Rosmalen@umcg.nl.
authors.forename: Judith G M
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Rosmalen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008016:Life Change Events; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D000075384:Neuroticism; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D010556:Personality Tests; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology
keywords: Adverse life events; Functional bodily symptoms; Neuroticism; Socio-economic status; Stress