Assessment of somatic symptoms in British secondary school children using the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI)

To present normative and psychometric data on somatic symptoms using the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI) in a nonclinical sample of British young people, and to assess associations with stress and functional impairment.

A total of 1,173 students (11- to 16-years old) completed the CSI and self-report psychopathology measures.

The median CSI total score was 12 (5, 23). Headaches, feeling low in energy, sore muscles, faintness, and nausea were most frequent. Girls scored higher than boys, and respondents aged 13-14 years lower than younger children. The CSI showed good internal consistency and exploratory factor analysis yielded three factors: pain/weakness, gastrointestinal, and pseudoneurological. A quarter of respondents reported somatic symptoms were made worse by stress. CSI scores were moderately significantly correlated with impairment and emotional symptoms.

The CSI, complemented by information on functional impairment and stress is an appropriate measure of recent somatic symptoms and somatization risk in young people for use in the UK.