Transcultural aspects of dissociative and somatoform disorders

A brief review of the cross-cultural literature on dissociative and somatoform disorders with emphasis on US Hispanic populations has been provided. A brief description of the psychopathology of somatizing syndromes has been given as have some critiques of current nosologic systems. Cultural influences that may color the expression of somatic manifestations have been outlined. Although it is often difficult to disentangle the contribution of ethnicity from other demographic factors, and although there are plenty of methodologic shortcomings, most studies reinforce the view that culture exerts a powerful influence in shaping symptom presentation and determining health-related attitudes. Future work using instruments such as the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) (Rubio-Stipec M: The somatization schedule of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview: The use of the probe in 17 different countries; unpublished manuscript) that include a more culturally congruent list of somatizing symptoms may shed new light on the international distribution and mechanisms at play in these symptom presentations.