Outcome of self-reported functional-somatic symptoms in a community sample of adolescents

It is unclear if functional-somatic symptoms in adolescents increase the risk for future psychiatric disorders. Therefore, the outcome and continuity of adolescent self-reported functional-somatic symptoms in young adulthood were assessed. Self-reported data on functional-somatic symptoms from an ongoing epidemiological study in children started in 1983 were analyzed. Participants were adolescents aged 11-18 who filled out standardized questionnaires in 1989 and 1991 and who were reassessed in 1997 when they were young adults between ages 19 and 26. Outcome measures were research psychiatric diagnoses and self-reported functional-somatic symptoms in 1997. Functional-somatic symptoms were associated with other measures of psychopathology in adolescents. Adolescents with specific functional-somatic symptoms tended to report the same symptom along with other symptoms at follow-up. Adolescent self-reported functional-somatic symptoms did not increase the risk for future psychiatric disorders. Young adults with functional-somatic complaints were diagnosed more often than controls with depressive disorders and anxiety disorders, but not with antisocial personality disorders and substance use disorders. Adolescent self-reported functional-somatic symptoms were common and enduring but were not predictive for psychiatric disorders in young adulthood. Adolescents and young adults who complain of multiple functional-somatic complaints should be assessed for the presence of a psychiatric disorder particularly depression or anxiety.