Date of Award
2022
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Psychology
First Advisor
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
Somatic symptoms are a risk factor for the development of chronic pelvic pain in women. The present study characterized somatic symptoms and their relations with psychological, pain sensitivity, and parental factors in a community sample of premenarchal adolescents, which marks an initial step in advancing the identification of potential modifiable factors related to menstrual pain and chronic pain development. Pain sensitivity (visceral and bodily factors) and psychological symptoms (anxiety and stress) were predicted to be related to somatic symptoms (e.g, widespread bodily discomfort) in premenarchal adolescents. Additionally, adolescents’ observation of parent pain behavior was expected to be specifically associated with somatic symptoms. In the present study, premenarchal adolescents (n = 228) completed a battery of psychosocial questionnaires that evaluated self-reported psychological symptoms and observations of parent pain behavior. To assess for visceral pain sensitivity, participants completed a noninvasive bladder filling task. Bodily pain sensitivity was measured with pressure pain threshold testing. Results showed associations between somatic symptoms, anxiety, stress, adolescents’ observations of parent pain behavior, and experimental bladder pain (p’s < .01), and bodily pressure pain thresholds (p < .05). Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that bladder pain (β = .11), stress (β = .23), anxiety (β = .36), and adolescents’ observation of parent pain behavior (β = 0.18) were associated with somatic symptoms (p’s < .05). Psychological factors, visceral pain sensitivity, and adolescents’ observation of parent pain behavior were significantly associated with somatic symptoms in premenarchal adolescents. Of these factors, stress and anxiety had the strongest associations with somatic symptoms. These findings illustrate the importance of holistically examining the contribution of visceral pain sensitivity, psychological symptoms, and adolescents’ observation of parent pain behavior to somatic symptoms.
Recommended Citation
Roth, Genevieve, "Psychological Symptoms, Visceral Pain Sensitivity, and Observations of Parent Pain Behavior are Related to Somatic Symptoms in Premenarchal Adolescents" (2022). Master's Theses. 4464.
https://ecommons.luc.edu/luc_theses/4464
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2022 Genevieve Roth
