Psychological flexibility in somatic symptom and related disorders: A case control study

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Clinical Psychology
• Health Psychology

Background:

• Somatic Symptom and related Disorders (SSD) diagnosis involves significant distress and excessive focus on somatic symptoms.
• Central Sensitivity Syndromes (CSS), like fibromyalgia, lack this specific diagnostic emphasis.
• The emphasis on psychological processing in SSD suggests potentially low psychological flexibility.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the levels of psychological flexibility in individuals with SSD.
• To compare psychological flexibility in SSD patients with CSS patients and healthy controls.
• To explore the association between psychological flexibility and mental health in SSD.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study comparing psychological flexibility levels.
• Participants included 154 individuals with SSD, 597 with CSS, and 1422 controls.
• Statistical analyses adjusted for demographic covariates and examined associations with mental health.

Main Results:

• Mean psychological flexibility was lowest in SSD, intermediate in CSS, and highest in controls (p < 0.001).
• 74% of SSD patients exhibited low psychological flexibility, compared to 42% in CSS and 21% in controls.
• Higher psychological flexibility in SSD correlated with better mental health (β = 0.56, p < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• Lower psychological flexibility is a prevalent issue in Somatic Symptom and related Disorders.
• Psychological flexibility is significantly associated with mental health outcomes in SSD patients.
• Assessing and targeting psychological flexibility may be beneficial for SSD screening, monitoring, and therapy.