Temperament profiles and somatization—an epidemiological study of young adult people

Karvonen, Juha T.; Veijola, Juha; Kantojärvi, Liisa; Miettunen, Jouko; Ekelund, Jesper; Lichtermann, Dirk; Läksy, Kristian; Joukamaa, Matti

doi:10.1016/j.jpsychores.2006.06.014

« Previous Next »Journal of Psychosomatic Research
Volume 61, Issue 6 , Pages 841-846, December 2006

Temperament profiles and somatization—an epidemiological study of young adult people

Juha T. Karvonen
- Department of Psychiatry, Out-patient Clinic of Adolescent Psychiatry, Oulu, Finland
- Corresponding author. Department of Psychiatry, Out-patient Clinic of Adolescent Psychiatry, 90029 OYS, Oulu, Finland
Juha Veijola
- Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
- Academy of Finland, Helsinki, Finland
Liisa Kantojärvi
- Department of Psychiatry, Out-patient Clinic of Adolescent Psychiatry, Oulu, Finland
Jouko Miettunen
- Department of Psychiatry, Oulu University Hospital, Oulu, Finland
- Department of Public Health Science and General Practice, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
Jesper Ekelund
- Departments of Molecular Medicine and Mental Health and Alcohol Research, National Public Health Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Dirk Lichtermann
- Methadone Maintenance Clinic “Café Ersatz,” Bonn, Germany
Kristian Läksy
- Department of Psychiatry, Out-patient Clinic of Adolescent Psychiatry, Oulu, Finland
Matti Joukamaa
- Department of Social Psychiatry, Tampere School of Public Health, University of Tampere and Department of Psychiatry, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland

Received 4 January 2006; received in revised form 23 May 2006; accepted 27 June 2006.

Abstract

Objective

We assessed the temperament profiles of young adult somatizers in an epidemiological setting. We hypothesized that somatizers would have a characteristic temperament profile.

Methods

The sample consisted of 984 subjects at the age of 31 years. Data on somatization were gathered from a review of all public health outpatient records. Subjects with four or more somatization symptoms according to the DSM-III-R criteria were classified as somatizers. Temperament profiles were assessed using the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI).

Results

Six males (1.3%) and 61 females (11.5%) met our criteria for somatization. Harm avoidance and reward dependence of the TCI profiles were associated with somatization symptoms in the whole sample. In logistic regression analysis, sex and psychological distress were associated with somatization but not with temperament profiles.

Conclusion

We did not find a characteristic temperament profile for somatizers. This finding is in contrast to suggestions that somatization is associated with temperament profiles.

Keywords: Epidemiology, Population study, Somatization, TCI, Temperament