Predictive factors of psychosomatic reactions during air raids

Background. Civilian population of Yugoslavia was exposed to massive stressors of air raids by NATO in 1999. The aim of this study was to investigate somatic complaints and their predictive factors during stresses of air raids. Methods. Random sample of 434 subjects, consisting of 139 inhabitants of several Belgrade municipalities and 295 employees of Military Medical Academy, were assessed in the cross-sectional study. The basic factors of interest were stress severity, variables of personality and habits and behavior relevant for somatic complaints. Self-report of stress severity and the most common somatic complaints were performed by Questionnaire specially designed for this purpose and personality evaluation by EPQ-38. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the influence of predictors on dependent variable (psychosomatic symptoms). Results. Personality was the most important predictor that explained 29% of variance in somatic symptoms (with the strongest impact of neuroticism); 11% was explained by habits and behavior and only 1% of variance by stress. Conclusion. The finding that personality had higher impact on stress reaction outcome could be important for preventive and therapeutic aspects of stress reactions.