Self-esteem and depressive symptomatology in children with somatoform disorders

This study investigated levels of self-esteem and self-reported depressive symptomatology in a sample of children diagnosed with somatoform disorder. The somatoform sample, a sample of children with depressive disorders, and a sample of children with no DSM-III-R diagnosis differed significantly on measures of depression and self-esteem. Specifically, the somatoform group consistently scored between the depressed and no-diagnosis groups, although most of the statistically significant differences occurred between the depressed and no-diagnosis groups. Significant differences between the somatoform group and the other groups were found for behavioral self-esteem.