NCT05666921

Alexithymia and Attachment Style in Patients With Somatic Symptoms

Somatic Symptoms, Alexithymia and Styles of Attachment: a Cross-sectional Study

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: —
• Study type: Observational
• Enrollment: 300 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Meyer Children's Hospital IRCCS · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 11 Years – 17 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

To evaluate whether emotional awareness, attachment style and the ability to abstract and symbolize (IQ) influence the appearance of somatic symptoms. Hypothesis: the investigators expect the presence of somatic symptoms linked to the lower ability of emotional awareness, to lower ability to abstract and symbolize and to an insecure attachment style.

Detailed description

Somatic Symptom Disorder (eg pain, weakness, chronic fatigue) represents one of the main reasons why patients seek specialist medical advice. Although the symptoms often manifest themselves in a disabling form and there are numerous medical examinations to which patients undergo, these do not seem to find an organic confirmation to their problem and consequently the patients do not receive a specific diagnosis. These are usually transient symptoms but it can happen that they become persistent and chronic, going to constitute themselves as real somatic syndromes. The study investigates the psychological and family aspects that seem to characterize somatic and chronic pain symptoms in pediatric age. In addition to this objective, the study aims to quantify the health costs incurred in the diagnostic phase prior to the classification of the somatic symptom. These elements would make it possible to achieve greater knowledge of clinical pictures and the identification of useful markers for the clinician to make early diagnoses and guide patients in a global and timely care.

Conditions

• Somatic Symptom Disorder

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	psychological assessment	The intervention consists in the assessment of some psychological aspects (emotional awareness, attachment style and the ability to abstract and symbolize (IQ)) of pediatric patients who present with somatic symptom disorders. , through specific tests. Each patient fills out the test battery during the psychological consult. At the same time, it is involved a parent to collect personal and clinical data through an ad hoc questionnaire.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-06-15
• Primary completion: 2026-12-01
• Completion: 2026-12-01
• First posted: 2022-12-28
• Last updated: 2025-09-26

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: Italy