Association between personal, medical and positive psychological variables with somatization in university health sciences students

Psychol Health Med. 2020 Aug;25(7):879-886. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2019.1683869. Epub 2019 Oct 30.

Abstract

To measure personal, medical and psychological positive and negative variables and to determine their relation with somatization in a sample of health sciences students. Subjects and methods: A total of 594 (34.43%) of the 1725 health science students of a public university answered an online survey with personal and medical information as well as the following psychological variables: phsychological well-being, five facets mindfulness questionnaire (FFMQ), life satisfaction, depression, and academic stress. Additionally, the presence of 11 somatic symptoms and 11 diseases during the last year was measured. Results: Most students were women (74.06%) who were 19.96 ± 4.28 years old. The global frequency of somatization in the previous year was 66.59%, and the presence of any measured disease 14.75%. With the multivariate analysis, self-acceptance was the most related variable (negatively) with somatization, followed by the sum of diseases, female gender, academic stress, smoking, and depression, in a model with an R-value of 0.634, self-acceptance was also the most related variable (negatively) with depression, being this last the most related variable with academic stress. Conclusions: After analyzing all variables considered in this study, self-acceptance was the most related variable with somatization and depression; this highlights the importance of strengthening the acceptance of the self in the student population in order to prevent these conditions and their consequences.

Keywords: Somatization; academic stress; depression; well-being.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Depression / psychology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mindfulness*
  • Self Concept*
  • Somatoform Disorders / psychology*
  • Stress, Psychological / psychology*
  • Students, Health Occupations / psychology*
  • Universities
  • Young Adult