Development of the somatic response survey

The goal in developing the Somatic Response Survey was to have a psychometrically sound, self-report instrument which could be used to assess patterns of normal physical responses during typical stressful situations. For a variety of reasons existing instruments were inappropriate for our goals. Three separate studies, involving 1623 students from 6 colleges, were conducted for data reduction, validation, and standardization of the Somatic Response Survey. Factor analyses indicated four meaningful factors: GastroIntestinal, MusculoSkeletal, Temperature-Sweating, and Cardio-Respiratory. The factors collectively account for 91% of the variance and possess satisfactory internal consistency. The application of the Somatic Response Survey in both research and clinical settings is discussed.