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Attributions of common somatic symptoms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

James M. Robbins  and
Laurence J. Kirmayer
James M. Robbins*
Affiliation:
Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry, Sir Mortimer B. Davis – Jewish General Hospital, Quebec; Departments of Psychiatry and Sociology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
Laurence J. Kirmayer
Affiliation:
Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry, Sir Mortimer B. Davis – Jewish General Hospital, Quebec; Departments of Psychiatry and Sociology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr J. M. Robbins, Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry, Sir Mortimer B. Davis – Jewish General Hospital, 4333 Chemin de la Cote Ste-Catherine, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3T 1E4.
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Synopsis

Three studies explored the causal attributions of common somatic symptoms. The first two studies established the reliability and validity of a measure of attributional style, the Symptom Interpretation Questionnaire (SIQ). Three dimensions of causal attribution were confirmed: psychological, somatic and normalizing. The third study examined the antecedents and consequences of attributional style in a sample of family medicine patients. Medical and psychiatric history differentially influenced attributional style. Past history and attributional style independently influenced clinical presentations over the subsequent 6 months. Symptom attributional style may contribute to the somatization and psychologization of distress in primary care.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 21 , Issue 4 , November 1991 , pp. 1029 - 1045
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1991

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