Abstract
Increasing evidence confirms a strict relationship between mental disorders and physical health. Particularly, stressful life events and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been closely correlated with various physical disorders and somatic symptoms, such as chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders, and headaches. The aim of this study was to investigate the emergence of somatic symptoms in a sample of young adult survivors 21months after exposure to the L'Aquila 2009 earthquake, with particular attention to PTSD and gender impact. Four hundred and fifty high-school senior students (253 male and 197 female) exposed to the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, 21months earlier, were enrolled and evaluated by the Trauma and Loss Spectrum Self-Report (TALS-SR), for symptomatological PTSD, and the Mood Spectrum Self-Report-Lifetime Version (MOODS-SR) "rhythmicity and vegetative functions" domain, for somatic symptoms. Significantly higher rates of endorsement of the MOODS-SR somatic symptoms emerged in survivors with PTSD compared to those without. Females reported higher rates of endorsement of at least one MOODS-SR somatic symptom compared to males; however, a Decision Tree model and a two-way analysis of variance model confirmed a significant effect of PTSD only. A multivariate logistical regression showed a significant association between the presence of at least one MOOD-SR somatic symptom and re-experiencing and maladaptive coping TALS-SR domains. This study corroborates a relevant impact of symptomatological PTSD, across both the genders, on somatic symptoms occurring in young adults after months from exposure to a massive earthquake.
Highlights
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically arises following exposure, both direct and indirect, to a traumatic event, and is characterized by the onset and persistence of a series of clinical symptoms that can often be profoundly incapacitating and tendentially chronic.[1]
Stressful life events and PTSD have been closely correlated with various physical disorders, especially somatic symptoms such as chronic pain, gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, and headache.[5,6]
Full data on the MOODS-SR were available for 450 survivors, the same that fulfilled the Trauma and Loss Spectrum Self-Report (TALS-SR)
Summary
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) typically arises following exposure, both direct and indirect, to a traumatic event, and is characterized by the onset and persistence of a series of clinical symptoms that can often be profoundly incapacitating and tendentially chronic.[1]. Stressful life events and PTSD have been closely correlated with various physical disorders, especially somatic symptoms such as chronic pain, gastrointestinal (GI) disorders, and headache.[5,6] High rates of somatic symptoms have been reported among war-exposed civilians,[7,8] as well as in special populations, who regularly exposed to traumatic events because of their employment states, such as military veterans and emergency services personnel.[6,9,10] Increasing data highlighted the importance to detect full and partial PTSD in general populations exposed to natural disasters in order to provide effective support and treatment, but despite the emerging evidence on a growing use of painkillers in Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Zhang et al[14] investigated somatic symptoms in 2299 children and adolescent survivors of the Lushan 2013 earthquake with probable PTSD, demonstrating a strong association between PTSD and somatic symptoms
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