Mana Goodarzi, Seyed Mojtaba Ahmadi, Maryam Asle Zaker Lighvan, Farima Rahmati, Mohammadreza Molavi, Mohammad Mohammadi,
Volume 8, Issue 1 (1-2020)
Abstract
Objective: Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) refers to one or more symptoms that cause distress or a significant disruption in one’s daily life and is correlated with poor Quality of Life and psychological distress, as well as an increased burden on health services. Therefore, its identification and treatment are of great importance because of the high prevalence and cost of this syndrome. The present study aimed to evaluate the factor structure, as well as the validity and reliability of the 8-Item somatic symptom scale (SSS-8) in a non-clinical sample of Iranian society.
Methods: The study participants included 281 individuals, who referred to Taleghani Hospital as the patients’ companions. After obtaining their informed consent, the participants answered Beck anxiety inventory, general health, SSS-8, and somatic symptoms 12 questionnaires. After completing the questionnaires, the collected data were analyzed by SPSS v. 24 and LISREL software.
Results: Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that gastrointestinal problems, pain, fatigue, and cardiopulmonary complaints were the general factor loadings of somatic symptoms. Besides, the 8-item Somatic Symptom Scale had good internal consistency. Regarding validity, the 8-question scale showed a positive correlation with the Beck anxiety inventory (r=0.70), general health questionnaire (r=0.70) and, somatic symptoms 12 (r=0.52).
Conclusion: The findings provided preliminary support for the validity and reliability of the scores derived from the 8-item Somatic Symptom Scale. This scale can be used to evaluate the severity of somatic symptoms of patients referring to health clinics. Additionally, it is beneficial for interested researchers to investigate this disorder and its complications.
Ala Ghapanch, Imaneh Abasi, Maryam Bitarafan, Hamid Zarabi, Fatemeh Sara Derakhshan, Mohammad Kamran Derakhshan, Sepideh Ghanadanzadeh, Alireza Shamsi,
Volume 10, Issue 1 (1-2022)
Abstract
Objective: Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) is characterized by somatic symptoms that are very distressing or cause considerable functional disability. SSD is associated with various medical and psychiatric conditions and imposes high costs on the health care system. Therefore, early diagnosis and treatment of SSD are crucial. The somatic symptom scale-8 (SSS-8) is a valuable and brief self-report questionnaire to assess somatic symptom burden. The current study determined the psychometric properties of the Persian version of SSS-8 in depressed samples.
Methods: The study data were collected from a clinical setting with individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD, n=122). The convergent validity of SSS-8 was examined by assessing its correlation with the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), the Whiteley index (WI-14), and somatic symptom disorder-B criteria scale (SSD-12) questionnaires.
Results: The Cronbach α results confirmed the reliability of SSS-8. Reliability assessment with test-retest showed excellent reliability for scale. The confirmatory factor analysis also approved the SSS-8 single-factor structure. The results of construct validity analysis of the questionnaire showed that SSS-8 has a positive and significant relationship with depression, anxiety, WI, and SSS-12.
Conclusion: The Persian version of the SSS-8 is an 8-item self-report questionnaire that health professionals and researchers can use to assess and screen somatic symptoms in individuals diagnosed with MDD.
Sara Farahi, Ghasem Naziri, Azam Davodi, Najmeh Fath,
Volume 11, Issue 3 (7-2023)
Abstract
Objective: The present study was done to investigate the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies in the relationship between early maladaptive schemas, alexithymia, and emotional intelligence with the somatic symptoms in people with somatic symptom disorder (SSD).
Methods: The research population consisted of 360 people with SSD referred to the psychosomatic department of Taleghani Hospital in Tehran in 2021 and were referred by psychiatrists and psychologists of medical centers selected by an accessible sampling method. The participants were asked to complete the Toronto alexithymia scale, early maladaptive schemas questionnaire, Bar-on emotional intelligence scale, cognitive emotion regulation strategies scale, and Takata and Sakata psychosomatic symptom scale. Data were analyzed by correlation analysis and structural equation modeling test
Results: The findings indicated that the hypothesized model had a good fit with the data. The results of the path analysis showed that cognitive emotion regulation strategies play a mediating role in the relationship between alexithymia and maladaptive schemas with SSD. Also, the mediating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies between emotional intelligence and somatic symptoms was not significant.
Conclusion: Based on the findings of the research, it can be concluded that maladaptive schemas and alexithymia with somatic symptoms have no linear and simple relationship, but other variables, such as cognitive emotion regulation strategies play a mediating role in this relationship. Also, the findings of the current research can be used in order to prevent and understand the underlying etiologies and treatment of SSD.
Coresponding author: Ghasem Naziri, E-mail: naziryy@yahoo.com
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