TY - JOUR
T1 - Somatization is associated with deficits in affective theory of mind
AU - Stonnington, Cynthia M.
AU - Locke, Dona E.C.
AU - Hsu, Chiu Hsieh
AU - Ritenbaugh, Cheryl
AU - Lane, Richard D.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Funded by Institute for Mental Health Research (grant # 2008-LR-804 ) and Mayo Clinic ( 08-001718 ). Authors thank Sandra Yee-Benedetto (study coordination), Carolyn Fort (study coordination, Animations and LEAS scoring), Hollis Weidenbacher, Jeanne Young, Jessie Jacobsen (data gathering), Marcy Watchman (clinical assessment and data gathering), Mary Larez (recruiter in the Family Medicine Clinic), Andew Flores (transcription of recorded animation descriptions), Erika Driver-Dunckley, M.D., Katherine Noe, M.D., Ph.D., Lucinda Harris, M.D., April Chang-Miller, M.D. (Mayo Clinic patient referrals), Karen Weihs, M.D. (review of previous draft), and the journal reviewers for their excellent comments and suggestions. The authors have no competing interests to report.
Funding Information:
This work was funded by the Institute for Mental Health Research (grant # 2008-LR-804, Drs. Lane and Stonnington) and Mayo Clinic (Dr. Stonnington).
PY - 2013/6
Y1 - 2013/6
N2 - Objective: To determine whether deficits in mental representation of emotion may constitute a mechanism for somatization. Methods: In this case-control study, we obtained measures of cognitive and affective Theory of Mind, emotional awareness, positive and negative affect, depression, anxiety, and physical symptoms and determined psychiatric diagnoses in consecutive outpatients, aged 19 to 60, with Conversion Disorder (n = 29), Functional Somatic Syndromes (n = 30), or "explained" Medical Disorders (Controls) (n = 30). Main outcome measure was the Animations-L score, i.e., use of words describing emotional content while performing the Frith-Happé Animations (video) Task, an established Theory of Mind measure in which the emotional content of a story is conveyed through movement. Results: Groups were similar in number of physical symptoms, negative affect, and ability to describe emotional experiences on a written measure that specifically solicited such descriptions. Conversion Disorder and Functional Somatic Syndrome groups scored lower on Animations-L, endorsed significantly less positive affect, and had more anxiety than Medical Controls. Animations-L and positive affect scores were predictive of group membership, with lower scores predicting somatizing conditions. Conclusions: Relative to Medical Controls, a deficit in the encoding and reporting of emotion when the emotional content of the stimulus is conveyed in action occurs equally in Conversion Disorder and Functional Somatic Syndrome patients and is consistent with previous findings in somatoform disorder inpatients. Difficulty with "conversion" from implicit (action, somatic) to explicit (representational) processing of emotions, exacerbated by anxiety, may constitute a mechanism for somatization.
AB - Objective: To determine whether deficits in mental representation of emotion may constitute a mechanism for somatization. Methods: In this case-control study, we obtained measures of cognitive and affective Theory of Mind, emotional awareness, positive and negative affect, depression, anxiety, and physical symptoms and determined psychiatric diagnoses in consecutive outpatients, aged 19 to 60, with Conversion Disorder (n = 29), Functional Somatic Syndromes (n = 30), or "explained" Medical Disorders (Controls) (n = 30). Main outcome measure was the Animations-L score, i.e., use of words describing emotional content while performing the Frith-Happé Animations (video) Task, an established Theory of Mind measure in which the emotional content of a story is conveyed through movement. Results: Groups were similar in number of physical symptoms, negative affect, and ability to describe emotional experiences on a written measure that specifically solicited such descriptions. Conversion Disorder and Functional Somatic Syndrome groups scored lower on Animations-L, endorsed significantly less positive affect, and had more anxiety than Medical Controls. Animations-L and positive affect scores were predictive of group membership, with lower scores predicting somatizing conditions. Conclusions: Relative to Medical Controls, a deficit in the encoding and reporting of emotion when the emotional content of the stimulus is conveyed in action occurs equally in Conversion Disorder and Functional Somatic Syndrome patients and is consistent with previous findings in somatoform disorder inpatients. Difficulty with "conversion" from implicit (action, somatic) to explicit (representational) processing of emotions, exacerbated by anxiety, may constitute a mechanism for somatization.
KW - Conversion disorder
KW - Emotional awareness
KW - Functional somatic syndromes
KW - Somatization
KW - Theory of mind
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2013.04.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2013.04.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 23731744
AN - SCOPUS:84878603629
SN - 0022-3999
VL - 74
SP - 479
EP - 485
JO - Journal of Psychosomatic Research
JF - Journal of Psychosomatic Research
IS - 6
ER -