Submitted Successfully!
To reward your contribution, here is a gift for you: A free trial for our video production service.
Thank you for your contribution! You can also upload a video entry or images related to this topic.
Version Summary Created by Modification Content Size Created at Operation
1
Saoni Banerjee
 -- 1323 2023-09-15 15:16:15 |
2 Reference format revised.
Lindsay Dong
 Meta information modification 1323 2023-09-19 03:24:33 | |
3 Description revised
Lindsay Dong
 -31 word(s) 1292 2023-09-19 10:49:13 |

Video Upload Options

Do you have a full video?
Send video materials Upload full video

Confirm

Are you sure to Delete?
Yes No
Cite
If you have any further questions, please contact Encyclopedia Editorial Office.
Banerjee, S.; Lev-Wiesel, R.; De, S. Somatisation and Poverty in Low-Income Adolescent Groups. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/49247 (accessed on 07 July 2024).
Banerjee S, Lev-Wiesel R, De S. Somatisation and Poverty in Low-Income Adolescent Groups. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/49247. Accessed July 07, 2024.
Banerjee, Saoni, Rachel Lev-Wiesel, Sonali De. "Somatisation and Poverty in Low-Income Adolescent Groups" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/49247 (accessed July 07, 2024).
Banerjee, S., Lev-Wiesel, R., & De, S. (2023, September 15). Somatisation and Poverty in Low-Income Adolescent Groups. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/49247
Banerjee, Saoni, et al. "Somatisation and Poverty in Low-Income Adolescent Groups." Encyclopedia. Web. 15 September, 2023.
Somatisation and Poverty in Low-Income Adolescent Groups
Edit
This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/children10071104

Poverty increases vulnerability towards somatisation and influences the sense of mastery and well-being. The present study on adolescents living in relative poverty in a high-income group country (Israel) and a low-middle-income group country (India) explored the nature of somatisation tendency (ST) and its relationship with potency and perception of poverty (PP). Potency, a buffer against stress-induced negative health effects, was hypothesized to be negatively related to ST and mediate the link between PP and ST. Purposive sampling was used to collect questionnaire-based data from community youth (12–16 years) of two metropolitan cities—Kolkata (India, N = 200) and Tel-Aviv (Israel, N = 208).  A clinically significant level of ST was reported by both Indian and Israeli youth experiencing 5–7 somatic symptoms on average. Potency was found to be a significant predictor of ST in both countries (p < 0.05) and emerged as a significant mediator (p < 0.001) in the PP and ST relationship among Indian adolescents.

somatisation tendency potency adolescent perception of poverty

1. Introduction

Somatic symptoms are purported manifestations of physical illness accompanied by heightened awareness of certain bodily sensations [1]. It is found to be high among adolescents globally [2][3], with a comparatively lower prevalence in Western populations [4] and males [5] compared with Eastern populations and females, respectively. Study on the contributing factors has reigned in the research arena in comparison to limited studies on preventive psychological resources. An integrative schematic model is reproduced here (Figure 1) to highlight the already established sociocultural and physiological factors contributing to somatisation, symptom amplification and distress [6]. Psychological resources are the protective determinants of health and well-being [7], especially during transitional periods [8]. They can be interpersonal, i.e., those generated through one’s relationship with society, and intrapersonal, or those influenced by one’s inherent nature and experiences.
Figure 1. An integrative model of somatisation [6].

2. Somatisation and Poverty in Low-Income Adolescent Groups

2.1. Somatisation Tendency

Somatisation is the process of ‘transforming’ one’s psychological conflict into bodily symptoms and/or somatic preoccupation in the absence of an identifiable organic cause [9]. Clinical understanding of ‘somatisation’ or ‘somatic symptom’ has seen a shift in both terminological and theoretical approaches, moving from a causation-centric approach (whether-or-not medically attributable to or associated with an established organic condition) to being effect-centric (severity of experienced impairment or distress) and symptom-centric (the organic system or areas of impairment). Somatisation tendency (ST) here is defined as the propensity (not a formed disorder) to report distress causing somatic symptoms, irrespective of whether it can be fully explained by the currently available biomedical assessments upon investigation. Long-drawn debates around the diagnostic criteria of somatisation have led to the formation of a new label, ‘somatic symptom disorder’ (SSD), in the current diagnostic and statistical manual for mental health disorders (DSM-V). The new diagnosis focused on the temporal extensity and perceived distress severity of the somatic symptoms experienced, forgoing the need to look out for the presence or absence of a medical explanation [10]. Whether medically explained or not, the somatic symptom is significantly positively correlated with impaired physical health, psychopathology and increased healthcare use across cross-sectional clinical studies [11] and population-based surveys [12][13]. Substantial evidence points to its correlation with internalizing psychopathologies, such as anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, somatic anxiety [14], sexual abuse [15] and alexithymia [16]. Psycho-social factors [17], especially poverty and socio-political trauma [18], also engender somatisation among adolescents.

2.2. Somatisation and Poverty in Adolescence

Adolescents growing up in poverty face long-standing negative psychophysiological consequences [19][20], including psychiatric disorders [21] and stress-related somatic symptoms [22][23]. Poverty itself has been identified by researchers to be considered a significant adverse childhood experience reinforcing multiple stress-causing pathways and ultimately affecting health and well-being [24]. The absence of protective factors in such conditions can lead to emotional disorders and cognitive deficits [25]. Multiple studies have related lower socio-economic levels to an increased prevalence of somatisation within one country [26], but the same is not observed in multi-country surveys [27]. The existing correlation between financial distress and somatisation is perhaps not simply due to the lack of monetary resources but the restrictions that come along with limited monetary resources, one’s relative economic position in own society [28] and the value attached to one’s own income with respect to the country’s average [29]. Relative poverty has been commonly defined in research as an income level below the 50% median household income [30][31]. The study focused on adolescents in the lowest 25% of the median household income of each country. The relative poverty and the capability restrictions imposed because of that determine the poverty level experienced [32][33]. These restrictions can be functional, material, emotional or social in nature; the more the felt experience of being deprived or constricted because of one’s economic position in society, the more distress. Thus, an individual’s perception of poverty-led circumstances, irrespective of the economic position in society, is an important contributor to the effect of poverty. Additionally, the relationship is not a straightforward one, as social positioning and relationships with family, friends, or associates mediate the power of economic resources [34]. The negative consequences of one’s financial limitation can even be overturned by being part of a strong, supportive social network [35]. Therefore, not only relative poverty itself but also its subjective consequences are expected to facilitate a somatisation tendency. On the other hand, psychosocial protective factors that increase coping resources at disposal may dilute the negative subjective consequences of relative poverty, thus minimising the occurrence of somatisation.

2.3. Somatisation and Potency in Adolescence

The majority of the adolescents’ common health complaints, such as dizziness, headache and fatigue, are found to be ‘physical functional complaints’ without any direct biomedical aetiology [36], suggesting underlying emotional and behavioural difficulties, conduct disorder, depression and anxiety problem, hyperactivity/inattention and peer problems [37]. Individual differences in somatisation under similar stressors can be explained through the mediating roles of resilience [38], personal mastery, psychological well-being [39], self-esteem and perceived emotional support [40]. There is extensive work on resilience as a dynamic, complex adaptive system in the face of disruption and trauma aiding well-being [41][42][43]. In contrast, psychological resource potency is comparatively less researched. Potency was first conceived by Ben-Sira as a health-protective factor, comprising two intrapersonal (presence of mastery and confidence) and two interpersonal components (absence of alienation and anomie) [44]. It can be simply understood as one’s own confidence in self and one’s own environment to be impartial and equitable [45]. Its high presence ensures higher emotional stability and protection from the adverse effects of occasional failures in coping and resource inadequacy. Potency is known to restore emotional homeostasis disrupted during stress by weakening the link between inadequate coping and consequential adverse effects [44][45]. Previous research on potency has shown its positive role in trauma recovery and adaptation [45][46][47]. Individuals reporting somatic symptoms are often found to be using inadequate coping mechanisms [48], disturbing their emotional and bodily homeostasis and generating health-debilitating consequences [49]. Mastery or feeling self-efficacious in manipulating one’s own course of goal-directed action and confidence in one’s own capacity to overcome the demands of life are the central intrapersonal resources of adolescents [2]. They help in building a sense of strong personal agency [50], aiding in healthier coping with health-related stressors [51]. Alienation reflects powerlessness due to the inability to elicit meaningful social rewards despite their effort, expressed through social isolation, normlessness, meaninglessness and mistrust in society [52]. The psychologised concept of anomie is an individual’s feeling of disgust, anxiety and insecurity with respect to one’s social positioning, leading to pessimistic worldviews and feelings of lowered control over one’s situation [53]. In short, an absence of both alienation and anomie ensures the presence of meaningful and predictable social support. Thus, potency consisting of four factors, such as belief in a impartial and ordered society, social support, a sense of personal mastery and confidence, can be expected to prevent the tendency to somatise among the economically vulnerable. One way it perhaps does that is by strengthening the stress-coping pathway and mediating through the probable distress symptoms caused due to poverty-imposed restrictions.

References

  1. Yates, W.R.; Dunayevich, E. Medscape—Somatic Symptom Disorders. 2014. Available online: https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/294908-overview (accessed on 5 July 2017).
  2. Rhee, H.; Miles, M.S.; Halpern, C.T.; Holditch-Davis, D. Prevalence of recurrent physical symptoms in US adolescents. Pediatr. Nurs. 2005, 31, 314.
  3. Swain, M.S.; Henschke, N.; Kamper, S.J.; Gobina, I.; Ottová-Jordan, V.; Maher, C.G. An international survey of pain in adolescents. BMC Public Health 2014, 14, 447.
  4. Viernes, N.; Zaidan, Z.A.; Dorvlo, A.S.; Kayano, M.; Yoishiuchi, K.; Kumano, H.; Kuboki, T.; Al-Adawi, S. Tendency toward deliberate food restriction, fear of fatness and somatic attribution in cross-cultural samples. Eat. Behav. 2007, 8, 407–417.
  5. Cheng, Q.; Xu, Y.; Xie, L.; Hu, Y.; Lv, Y. Prevalence and environmental impact factors of somatization tendencies in eastern Chinese adolescents: A multicenter observational study. Cad. Saude Publica 2019, 35, e00008418.
  6. Kirmayer, L.J.; Taillefer, S. Somatoform disorders. In Adult Psychopathology, 3rd ed.; Hersen, M., Turner, S., Eds.; John Wiley: New York, NY, USA, 1997.
  7. Hobfoll, S.E. Social and psychological resources and adaptation. Rev. Gen. Psychol. 2002, 6, 307–324.
  8. OECD. Education at a Glance 2014: OECD Indicators; OECD: Paris, France, 2018.
  9. Patel, N. Understanding Psychological Conflicts in Patients with Essential Hypertension and Exploring Matching Homoeopathic Remedies. Homœopath. Links 2018, 31, 234–240.
  10. Dimsdale, J.E.; Creed, F.; Escobar, J.; Sharpe, M.; Wulsin, L.; Barsky, A.; Lee, S.; Irwin, M.R.; Levenson, J. Somatic symptom disorder: An important change in DSM. J. Psychosom. Res. 2013, 75, 223–228.
  11. Dijkstra-Kersten, S.M.; Sitnikova, K.; van Marwijk, H.W.; Gerrits, M.M.; van der Wouden, J.C.; Penninx, B.W.; van der Horst, H.E.; Leone, S.S. Somatisation as a risk factor for incident depression and anxiety. J. Psychosom. Res. 2015, 79, 614–619.
  12. Creed, F.H.; Davies, I.; Jackson, J.; Littlewood, A.; Chew-Graham, C.; Tomenson, B.; Macfarlane, G.; Barsky, A.; Katon, W.; McBeth, J. The epidemiology of multiple somatic symptoms. J. Psychosom. Res. 2012, 72, 311–317.
  13. Lee, S.; Creed, F.H.; Ma, Y.L.; Leung, C.M. Somatic symptom burden and health anxiety in the population and their correlates. J. Psychosom. Res. 2015, 78, 71–76.
  14. Ruchkin, V.; Schwab-Stone, M. A longitudinal study of somatic complaints in urban adolescents: The role of internalizing psychopathology and somatic anxiety. J. Youth Adolesc. 2014, 43, 834–845.
  15. Bae, S.M.; Kang, J.M.; Chang, H.Y.; Han, W.; Lee, S.H. PTSD correlates with somatization in sexually abused children: Type of abuse moderates the effect of PTSD on somatization. PLoS ONE 2018, 13, e0199138.
  16. Raffagnato, A.; Angelico, C.; Valentini, P.; Miscioscia, M.; Gatta, M. Using the Body When There Are No Words for Feelings: Alexithymia and Somatization in Self-Harming Adolescents. Front. Psychiatry 2020, 11, 262.
  17. Karkhanis, D.G.; Winsler, A. Somatization in children and adolescents: Practical implications. J. Indian Assoc. Child Adolesc. Ment. Health 2016, 12, 79–115.
  18. Frenkel, L.; Swartz, L.; Bantjes, J. Chronic traumatic stress and chronic pain in the majority world: Notes towards an integrative approach. Crit. Public Health 2018, 28, 12–21.
  19. Bourdillon, M.; Boyden, J. (Eds.) Growing Up in Poverty: Findings from Young Lives; Springer: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2014.
  20. Brando, N.; Schweiger, G. (Eds.) Philosophy and Child Poverty: Reflections on the Ethics and Politics of Poor Children and Their Families; Springer Nature: Berlin/Heidelberg, Germany, 2019; Volume 1.
  21. Marmot, M.; Allen, J.; Bell, R.; Bloomer, E.; Goldblatt, P. WHO European review of social determinants of health and the health divide. Lancet 2012, 380, 1011–1029.
  22. Kirmayer, L.J.; Young, A. Culture and somatization: Clinical, epidemiological, and ethnographic perspectives. Psychosom. Med. 1998, 60, 420–430.
  23. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th ed.; American Psychiatric Association: Washington, DC, USA, 2013.
  24. Hughes, M.; Tucker, W. Poverty as an adverse childhood experience. North Carol. Med. J. 2018, 79, 124–126.
  25. Shonkoff, J.P.; Garner, A.S.; Siegel, B.S.; Dobbins, M.I.; Earls, M.F. Technical Report: The lifelong effects of early childhood adversity and toxic stress. From The committees on psychosocial aspects of child and family health; early childhood, adoption and dependent care, and section on developmental and behavioral pediatrics. Pediatrics 2012, 129, e232–e246.
  26. Babu, A.R.; Aswathy Sreedevi, A.J.; Krishnapillai, V. Prevalence and determinants of somatization and anxiety among adult women in an urban population in Kerala. Indian J. Community Med. 2019, 44 (Suppl. S1), S66.
  27. Gureje, O.; Simon, G.E.; Ustun, T.B.; Goldberg, D.P. Somatization in cross-cultural perspective: A World Health Organization study in primary care. Am. J. Psychiatry 1997, 154, 989–995.
  28. Wagle, U.R. Poverty in Kathmandu: What do subjective and objective economic welfare concepts suggest? J. Econ. Inequal. 2006, 5, 73–95.
  29. Blackorby, C.; Donaldson, D. Welfare ratios and distributionally sensitive cost-benefit analysis. J. Public Econ. 1987, 34, 265–290.
  30. Rank, M.R.; Hirschl, T.A. The likelihood of experiencing relative poverty over the life course. PLoS ONE 2015, 10, e0133513.
  31. Lee, K.; Zhang, L. Cumulative Effects of Poverty on Children’s Social-Emotional Development: Absolute Poverty and Relative Poverty. Community Ment. Health J. 2022, 58, 930–943.
  32. Sen, A.K. Commodities and Capabilities; Elsevier Science Publishers: Oxford, UK, 1985.
  33. Sen, A.K. Development as Freedom; Oxford University Press: Oxford, UK, 1999.
  34. Cook, J.A.; Mueser, K.T. Is recovery possible outside the financial mainstream? Psychiatr. Rehabil. J. 2016, 39, 295–298.
  35. Sylvestre, J.; Notten, G.; Kerman, N.; Polillo, A.; Czechowki, K. Poverty and serious mental illness: Toward action on a seemingly intractable problem. Am. J. Community Psychol. 2018, 61, 153–165.
  36. Joychan, S.; Kazi, R.; Patel, D.R. Psychosomatic pain in children and adolescents. J. Pain Manag. 2016, 9, 155.
  37. Petanidou, D.; Giannakopoulos, G.; Tzavara, C.; Dimitrakaki, C.; Kolaitis, G.; Tountas, Y. Adolescents’ multiple, recurrent subjective health complaints: Investigating associations with emotional/behavioural difficulties in a cross-sectional, school-based study. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry Ment. Health 2014, 8, 1–8.
  38. Ran, L.; Wang, W.; Ai, M.; Kong, Y.; Chen, J.; Kuang, L. Psychological resilience, depression, anxiety, and somatization symptoms in response to COVID-19: A study of the general population in China at the peak of its epidemic. Soc. Sci. Med. 2020, 262, 113261.
  39. Keller, C.J. Courage, Psychological Well-being, and Somatic Symptoms. Ph.D. Thesis, Seattle Pacific University, Seattle, WA, USA, 13 April 2016. Available online: https://digitalcommons.spu.edu/cpy_etd/17 (accessed on 10 July 2017).
  40. DeLongis, A.; Folkman, S.; Lazarus, R.S. The impact of daily stress on health and mood: Psychological and social resources as mediators. J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 1988, 54, 486.
  41. Masten, A.S. Global Perspectives on Resilience in Children and Youth. Child. Dev. 2014, 85, 6–20.
  42. Overton, W.F. A new paradigm for developmental science: Relationism and relational-developmental systems. App. Dev. Sci. 2013, 17, 94–107.
  43. Wright, M.O.D.; Masten, A.S.; Narayan, A.J. Resilience processes in development: Four waves of research on positive adaptation in the context of adversity. In Handbook of Resilience in Children; Goldstein, S., Brooks, R.B., Eds.; Springer: New York, NY, USA, 2013; pp. 15–37.
  44. Ben-Sira, Z. Potency: A stress-buffering link in the coping-stress-disease relationship. Sot. Sci. Med. 1985, 21, 397–406.
  45. Lev-Wiesel, R. Enhancing potency among male adolescents at risk to drug abuse: An action research. Child Adolesc. Soc. Work. J. 2009, 26, 383–398.
  46. Bhattacharyya, A.; Lev-Wiesel, R.; Banerjee, M. Roles of Emotional Reactions and Potency in Coping with Abusive Experiences of Indian Adolescent. J. Child Adolesc. Trauma 2020, 14, 61–72.
  47. Lev-Wiesel, R. Living under the threat of relocation: Different buffering effects of personal coping resources on men and women. Marriage Fam. Rev. 1999, 29, 97–108.
  48. Ladipo, M.M.; Obimakinde, A.M.; Irabor, A.E. Familial and socio-economic correlates of somatisation disorder. Afr. J. Prim. Health Care Fam. Med. 2015, 7, 1–8.
  49. Wethington, E.; Glanz, K.; Schwartz, M.D. Stress, coping, and health behavior. Health Behav. Theory Res. Pract. 2015, 223, 242.
  50. Muñoz, L.R. Graduate student self-efficacy: Implications of a concept analysis. J. Prof. Nurs. 2020, 37, 112–121.
  51. Wallston, K.A. Control Beliefs: Health Perspectives. In International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences; Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2015; pp. 819–821.
  52. Ross, C.E.; Mirowsky, J. Alienation: Psychosociological Tradition. In International Encyclopaedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences; Elsevier: Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 2015; p. 2.
  53. Deflem, M. Anomie, Strain, and Opportunity Structure. In The Handbook of the History and Philosophy of Criminology; Triplett, R.A., Ed.; Wiley, Blackwell: Hoboken, NJ, USA, 2018; pp. 140–155.
More
© Text is available under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
Upload a video for this entry
Information
Subjects: Psychology
Contributors MDPI registered users' name will be linked to their SciProfiles pages. To register with us, please refer to https://encyclopedia.pub/register :
Saoni Banerjee
,
Rachel Lev-Wiesel
,
Sonali De
View Times: 220
Revisions: 3 times (View History)
Update Date: 19 Sep 2023
Table of Contents
    1000/1000
    Hot Most Recent
    Video Production Service
    Feedback