Initial investigation of somatization in the general population of Serbia: Prevalence, manifestations and predictors

Introduction. Somatization is one of the most prevalent current health issues affecting the well-being and quality of life in the general population. Many psychological constructs influence somatization and its outcomes. It was our aim to assess the features and prevalence of somatization in general population of Serbia by using the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 instrument, as well as to determine its relations with personality traits, factors of psychological distress and well-being. Material and Methods. Two studies were performed: Study 1 (N = 714) aimed to determine the relations between the Big Five personality traits, alexithymia and somatization, and Study 2 (N = 807) investigated the relationship between factors of psychological distress such as depression, anxiety and stress, factors of well-being such as life satisfaction and subjective vitality with somatization. Results. In Study 1, Neuroticism and Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 Factor 1, difficulty identifying feelings, strongly correlated with somatization, and the measured constructs explained 33.4% of somatization variance. In Study 2, anxiety and stress had the strongest correlation indices from the measured constructs and Study 2 regression model explained 44.7% of the variance. The most prevalent symptoms measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 were tiredness, back pain and headaches. Conclusion. Somatization levels were slightly higher than those previously reported in general population. However, they were still well under those reported in the clinical populations. Symptom prevalence was compatible with previous findings in the general population, whereas Neuroticism and anxiety were most closely associated with somatization. Further research is needed to define other factors that contribute to the development of somatization.