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This study examined the impact of child sexual abuse and disclosure characteristics on adult psychological and psychosomatic symptoms. Data on abuse characteristics, disclosure-related events, and subjective health were collected through semistructured interviews and questionnaires from 123 adult women reporting having been sexually abused in childhood by someone close. The results indicate that disclosure-related events have a stronger relation than abuse characteristics to long-term consequences of childhood sexual abuse. In particular, a positive reaction from a partner was related to fewer symptoms. Of the abuse characteristics, exposure also to physical abuse was strongly associated to psychological sequelae.

To examine the relationship between grief reactions and alexithymia, 54 Japanese women (33 outpatients attending a psychosomatic clinic and 21 normal healthy participants) completed the Texas Inventory of Grief (TIG), the 20-item Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), and the Profile of Mood States (POMS). Each woman had experienced the death of a spouse or a first-degree relative. The TIG scores were positively correlated to the scores on the first TAS-20 factor of Difficulty Identifying Feelings and on the POMS tension-anxiety and depression scales. The scores on the first TAS-20 factor were higher in the psychosomatic group than in the normal group. Complicated grief reactions may be closely associated with both alexithymic character and mood states in bereaved Japanese women.

The latest research work showed a clear increase in stress consequences for younger children related to experience, behaviour and health (among other things, fear to fail and psychosomatic disorders). In contrast, only a few stress-handling programmes are available specifically for children; a large part covers stress-handling training courses orientated to behaviour and cognition. The aim of the Training of Relaxation with Elements of Yoga for Children technique introduced and evaluated is the communication of self-control and relaxation based on experience using breathing exercises, imagination journeys and specifically selected yoga techniques for children. This stress-handling programme has been investigated by means of a test/control/group design with 48 pupils of the fifth grade. During a pre/post comparison with three measuring times one could give proof that the training will increase emotional balance in the long term and reduce fears. Feelings of helplessness and aggression were clearly reduced. Beyond this, the participants transferred the learned breathing techniques and self-instructions to situations beyond school, in order to relax after the lessons, to improve well-being and to control negative feelings. The effects found out here indicate that yoga is suited for children as an independent control method.

Although hypochondriasis is associated with the costly use of unnecessary medical resources, this mental health problem remains largely neglected. A lack of clear conceptual models and valid measures has impeded accurate assessment and hindered progress. The Multidimensional Inventory of Hypochondriacal Traits (MIHT) addresses these deficiencies with scales that correspond to a 4-factor model. The MIHT was built with construct validity as a guiding principle and began with an item pool that broadly assessed dimensions identified in the literature. The items were administered to large samples; factor analyses of the responses led to item pool revisions and scale refinements. Multiple studies validated the final MIHT scales and 4-factor model; these findings suggest that the MIHT will contribute to theory and research.

Ubiquitous 1/f scaling in human cognition and physiology suggests a mind-body interaction that contradicts commonly held assumptions. The intrinsic dynamics of psychological phenomena are interaction dominant (rather than component dominant), and the origin of purposive behavior lies with a general principle of self-organization (rather than a special neurocognitive mechanism). E.-J. Wagenmakers, S. Farrell, and R. Ratcliff (2005) raised concerns about the kinds of data and analyses that support generic 1/f scaling. This reply is a defense that furthermore questions the model that Wagenmakers and colleagues endorse and their strategy for addressing complexity.

Irritable bowel syndrome is characterized by chronic gastrointestinal symptoms without a demonstrable physical cause. In a subgroup of patients, irritable bowel syndrome may be part of a cluster of psychosomatic symptoms related to childhood sexual abuse. To investigate this possibility, the Dissociative Disorders Interview Schedule (DDIS), the Dissociative Experiences Scale (DES) and the Symptom Checklist-90 (SCL-90) were administered to 105 subjects with either irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis), or other gastrointestinal disorders. The subjects in the three groups did not differ on the DES, the SCL-90 or most sections of the DDIS. However, subjects with irritable bowel syndrome reported much higher rates of childhood sexual abuse and psychosomatic symptoms. (Contains 1 table.)

We examined the psychological and physiological functioning of a community sample of children exposed to marital violence, comparing them to a clinical comparison group without marital violence exposure. Results replicated past findings of elevated levels of trauma symptomatology in this population. Further, children exposed to marital violence differed significantly from comparison children with respect to sympathetic nervous system functioning and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis functioning. Specifically, elevations were seen in heart rate and salivary cortisol levels, but not in orthostatic challenge response or blood pressure. These results indicate that children exposed to marital violence have a different physiological presentation than controls and may be physiologically "traumatized" by virtue of marital violence exposure.

This study conducted a systematic review to assess the quality of existing literature on psychological treatments for irritable bowel syndrome and to quantify the evidence for their efficacy. Three independent reviewers (2 from England, 1 from the United States) coded the quality of 32 studies, 17 of which provided data suitable for meta-analysis. Meta-analysis of efficacy data (50% reduction of symptoms) gave an odds ratio of 12 (95% confidence interval = 5.56-25.96) and a number needed to treat of 2. Psychological treatments are, as a class of interventions, effective in reducing symptoms compared with a pooled group of control conditions. Questions regarding the relative superiority of specific psychological treatments and influence of active versus nonspecific treatment effects remain unanswered.

This study addressed four questions which parents of children with selective mutism (SM) frequently ask: (1) Is SM associated with anxiety or oppositional behavior? (2) Is SM associated with parenting and family dysfunction? (3) Will my child fail at school? and (4) Will my child make friends or be teased and bullied? In comparison to a sample of 52 community controls, 52 children with SM were more anxious, obsessive, and prone to somatic complaints. In contrast, children with SM were less oppositional and evidenced fewer attentional difficulties at school. We found no group differences in family structure, economic resources, family functioning, maternal mood difficulties, recreational activities, or social networks. While parents reported no differences in parenting strategies, children with SM were described as less cooperative in disciplinary situations. The academic (e.g., reading and math) and classroom cooperative skills of children with SM did not differ from controls. Parents and teachers reported that children with SM had significant deficits in social skills. Though teachers and parents rated children with SM as less socially assertive, neither teachers nor parents reported that children with SM were victimized more frequently by peers.

Selective mutism (SM) is a rare and complex disorder associated with anxiety symptoms and speech-language deficits; however, the nature of these language deficits has not been studied systematically. A novel cross-disciplinary assessment protocol was used to assess anxiety and nonverbal cognitive, receptive language, and expressive narrative abilities in 7 children with SM and a comparison group of 7 children with social phobia (SP). The children with SM produced significantly shorter narratives than children with SP, despite showing normal nonverbal cognitive and receptive language abilities. The findings suggest that SM may involve subtle expressive language deficits that may influence academic performance and raise additional questions for further research. The assessment procedure developed for this study may be potentially useful for language clinicians.

This paper aims to establish a link between the felt quality in musical expression and the psycho-somatic structure of the person playing. This includes specific areas of the body, a corresponding set of emotions and thought patterns, as well as the deeper needs of the person. Discernment of felt quality is facilitated by using the symbolic reference system of the five Indian and Greek elements earth, water, fire, air and space. This framework not only enables the therapist to locate a client's limitations or blockages, but also a means of understanding how to work on them, thus ultimately improving their musicality and well-being. The findings are drawn from the author's work as a music-therapist with adult clients as well as with young autistic, psychotic and disharmonic children, aged 2-8 in a day clinic in central France. Within that work, strong evidence has been found for seven major neuro-musical thresholds, that, when worked on, can bring about substantial changes in a person.

An exciting period in mental and physical health research is beginning, resulting from a paradigm shift from an outdated biomedical reductionism approach to a more comprehensive biopsychosocial model, which emphasizes the unique interactions among biological, psychological, and social factors required to better understand health and illness. This biopsychosocial perspective is important in evaluating the comorbidity of mental and physical health problems. Psychiatric and medical pathologies interface prominently in pain disorders. Important topics in the biopsychosocial approach to comorbid chronic mental and physical health disorders, focusing primarily on pain, are presented. Though this biopsychosocial model has produced dramatic advances in health psychology over the past 2 decades, important challenges to moving the field forward still remain.

The author discusses 3 variables that assess different aspects of social relationships-social support, social integration, and negative interaction. The author argues that all 3 are associated with health outcomes, that these variables each influence health through different mechanisms, and that associations between these variables and health are not spurious findings attributable to our personalities. This argument suggests a broader view of how to intervene in social networks to improve health. This includes facilitating both social integration and social support by creating and nurturing both close (strong) and peripheral (weak) ties within natural social networks and reducing opportunities for negative social interaction. Finally, the author emphasizes the necessity to understand more about who benefits most and least from social-connectedness interventions.

The authors examined associations among parental and child adjustment, child syncope, somatic, and school problems. Participants were children (N = 56) ages 7-18 years with syncope. Measures included syncope severity, parental distress, and children's internalizing symptoms. For children diagnosed negative for neurocardiogenic syncope (NCS), their fathers' and their own psychological symptoms were positively associated with the severity of syncope, whereas their mothers' functioning was negatively associated with the severity of syncope. Also, for the negative NCS group, fathers' psychological functioning was associated with children's nonsyncope somatic complaints but not with their school problems. For the positive NCS group, few significant father-child associations were found, but several significant positive associations were revealed between mothers' psychological symptoms and their children's syncope as well as somatic and school problems.

This study examines the relationships between school-related stress, gender and psychosomatic symptoms in a sample of 531 adolescent pupils in years (grades) 8, 9 and 10 (aged 13-16 years) from two compulsory schools in Norway. Results showed that 18.1 percent reported being very much affected by at least one of the assessed psychosomatic symptoms. Girls reported significantly more psychosomatic symptoms than did boys. Tests of the dimensionality of the school-related stress that was assessed in the present study showed four main categories: (1) difficulties with peers at school; (2) worries about school achievement; (3) schoolwork pressure and (4) conflicts with parents and/or teachers. Results from multiple regression analyses showed that scores for the different stressors were significantly associated with psychosomatic symptoms. Findings suggest that frequency of psychosomatic symptoms might be related to how well or otherwise pupils adapt to the demands of school and to the interpersonal climate of the school. Gender seems to play a differentiating role here. Girls reported significantly more stress that was related to worries about school achievement, whereas boys reported significantly more stress arising from conflicts with parents and/or teachers. Finally, stress due to difficulties with peers at school was more closely correlated with psychosomatic symptoms among boys than among girls.

School transition is a critical life event for many children. However, the effects of school transition on children's stress experiences reported in the literature have been inconsistent. The present study with 564 third- to sixth-graders compared the changes in experienced stress level and in somatic and psychological symptoms during the transition from elementary to secondary schools (from grade 4 to grade 5) to the changes of two control groups (experiencing changes from grades 3 to 4 and from grades 5 to 6, but without school transition). The results show decreases in experienced stress levels and somatic and psychological symptoms after school transition. However, these decreases reflect mainly recovery effects after the school summer break, as comparisons with the control groups indicate.

This study examined the relationship of catastrophizing to fatigue in 80 women receiving chemotherapy (CT) or radiotherapy (RT) for treatment of early stage breast cancer. Findings revealed expected relationships between catastrophizing and fatigue among women receiving RT but not CT. Among RT patients, those high in catastrophizing reported significantly greater fatigue than was reported by those low in catastrophizing; among CT patients, differences in fatigue based on level of catastrophizing were not significant. Likewise, catastrophizing was found to account for significant variability in subsequent reports of fatigue among RT patients but not CT patients. These findings extend research on catastrophizing beyond previously studied relationships with pain and are consistent with the view that, as the inherent symptom-producing potential of treatment decreases, psychological factors play a greater role in patients' experience of symptoms.

The current study examined psychological and physical health outcomes of the written disclosure paradigm and the hypothesis that the principles of therapeutic exposure account for the beneficial effects of the paradigm. Participants were randomly assigned to either a written disclosure condition or a control condition. Reactivity to the writing sessions was examined using both subjective and physiological measures. Measures of psychological and physical health were completed before and 1 month after the sessions. Participants assigned to the disclosure condition reported fewer psychological and physical symptoms at follow-up compared with control participants, though reductions were clinically significant for only 1 outcome measure. Physiological activation to the 1st disclosure session was associated with reduced psychological symptoms at follow-up for disclosure participants. Subjective reports of emotional responding corresponded with physiological reactivity. Implications of these findings are discussed.

The author reviews some of the social and behavioral factors acting on the brain that influence health, illness, and death. Supported with data from several areas of research, his proposal for understanding health and illness provides both the concepts and the mechanisms for studying and explaining mind-body relationships. The brain is the body's first line of defense against illness, and the mind is the emergent functioning of the brain. This mind-body approach incorporates ideas, belief systems, and hopes as well as biochemistry, physiology, and anatomy. Changing thoughts imply a changing brain and thus a changing biology and body. Belief systems provide a baseline for the functioning brain upon which other variables act and have their effects.

Examined whether perception of racist experiences would predict differently for self-reported health symptoms compared to an objective health measure (cardiovascular reactivity) among African Americans, noting the influence of spirituality. Perceived racist experiences and racial stress negatively related to health symptoms and inversely related to cardiovascular responses. Spirituality significantly moderated between racial stress and negative psychological health outcomes. (Contains references.) (SM)

Developed a model to explain the causes and consequences of negative teacher-student relationships, analyzing surveys of Romanian high school teachers and students. Overall, teachers' approaches to student control, teacher morale, and teacher burnout related to students' perceptions of teacher hostility and negative teacher-student interactions, which in turn related to negative educational and psychosomatic outcomes reported by students. (SM)

Three studies examined 4- to- 7-year-olds' reasoning about consequences of physiological responses with origins in the mind. Results revealed that adults believed only psychological treatments are effective cures for psychogenic reactions. Young children reported that only physical treatments are effective cures for psychogenic reactions, suggesting that mind-body interactions pose conceptual difficulties for people of all ages, but the nature of the difficulty changes over development. (Author/KB)

Examined relation of different types of negative emotion and regulation and control to 55- to 97-month-olds' internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. Found that children with externalizing problems, compared to children with internalizing problems and nondisordered children, were more prone to anger, impulsivity, and low regulation. Children with internalizing symptoms were prone to sadness, low attentional regulation, and low impulsivity. (Author/KB)

Israeli paratroopers (n=267) completed measures of group importance, role satisfaction, vocational interests, and somatic complaints. Group importance correlated with satisfaction and somatic complaints; congruence with environment did not. Congruence interacted with group importance to enhance satisfaction. (Contains 29 references.) (SK)

Analyzed associations between psychosomatic symptoms and school-induced stress and personal and social resources among Norwegian adolescents who completed questionnaires as part of the World Health Organization's European Network of Health Promoting Schools. There was a consistent association between school- related stress experience and risk of psychosomatic symptoms. Support from teachers and peers was important for students' wellbeing. (SM)

Pennebaker's interest in the relationship between the disclosure or inhibition of traumatic experience and psychosomatic illness is followed through his career. His current research addresses other aspects of physical and mental health. Important implications for the counseling process and for counseling professionals are discussed. (Author/EMK)

Presents a demonstration of successful behavioral case consultation combined with case study methodology in the treatment of a 13-year-old female afflicted with a psychogenic cough. Results suggest that psychogenic cough can be successfully treated by using behavioral case consultation as a framework for applying intervention. Limitations are also discussed. (RJM)

Examines the characteristic features of epidemic hysteria reports in school settings. Discovers three distinct symptom patterns: (1) mass motor hysteria (psychomotor alterations due to preexisting stress); (2) mass anxiety hysteria (extreme anxiety following the redefinition of a mundane event); and (3) mass pseudo-hysteria (relabeling of mundane symptoms by hyper-vigilant authorities). (MJP)

Potential long-term effects of the trauma of severe sexual abuse on a child's sense of living in his/her body and in the world are explored. Trauma and dissociation are analyzed and linked to a posttraumatic sense of personal identity. Then dissociation, multiple personality disorder, eating disorders, somatization disorder, self-mutilation, and suicide are examined in relation to embodiment. (BRM)

Selective mutism (SM) is a childhood anxiety disorder characterized by the persistent failure to speak in situations where speech is typically expected (e.g., school), despite speaking in other situations (e.g., home; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013). Immigrant children are more likely to be diagnosed with SM than the general population (Mayworm, Dowdy, Knights, & Rebelez, 2015). With this difference in mind, along with the fact that schools in the United States are becoming increasingly diverse and serving a growing number of immigrant children (Child Trends, 2014), school professionals should pay particular attention to this population when identifying and treating SM. Diversity in Development and Learning is a foundational competency in school psychology service delivery; therefore, it is especially important for school psychologists to attend to the unique needs of immigrant children through assessment and intervention practices. This article introduces selective mutism and cultural considerations with immigrant children.