Loneliness in patients with somatic symptom disorder.

Autor:	Vos AECC; Zuyderland Medical Center, PCHeerlen, The Netherlands., Jongen EMM; Open University, DLHeerlen, The Netherlands., van den Hout AJHC; Zuyderland Medical Center, PCHeerlen, The Netherlands., van Lankveld JJDM; Open University, DLHeerlen, The Netherlands.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	Scandinavian journal of pain [Scand J Pain] 2022 Dec 16; Vol. 23 (2), pp. 291-297. Date of Electronic Publication: 2022 Dec 16 (Print Publication: 2023).
DOI:	10.1515/sjpain-2022-0057
Abstrakt:	Objectives: Patients with somatoform disorders often experience loneliness. They feel misunderstood and socially rejected. Whereas loneliness is related to several medical conditions, social support can minimize loneliness. In the current study, differences in loneliness and the evaluation of social support between patients with Somatic Symptom Disorder (SSD) and healthy controls were investigated using standardized questionnaires. In addition, the relation between loneliness and somatic symptoms was investigated. Methods: In a cross-sectional study design, a group of patients with SSD (n=75) was compared to a healthy control group (n=112). It was hypothesized that [1] patients with SSD experience more loneliness and evaluate their social support more negatively than healthy controls and [2] loneliness will correlate positively with experienced somatic symptoms. Results: In comparison to healthy controls, patients with SSD experienced more loneliness and their evaluation of social support was more negative. In addition, loneliness correlated positively with the degree of experienced somatic symptoms. Conclusions: Patients with SSD experienced lower social support, more loneliness, and across the two groups loneliness was positively associated with somatic symptoms. Effect sizes were all large. Therefore, these results may have implications for the treatment of SSD. (© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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