An empirical investigation of the psychosomatogenic family model

Abstract

This study evaluated the psychosomatogenic family model as an etiological theory of psychosomatic symptomatology among chronically ill asthmatic children. The model postulates that four family transactional characteristics--enmeshment, overprotectiveness, lack of conflict resolution, and rigidity--nurture psychosomatic symptoms among chronically ill children. These four characteristics were measured in the families of 42 asthmatic children, and the severity of each child's asthmatic condition was assessed through parents' ratings, medical records, and physicians' clinical judgements. Factor analysis was used to create composite variables of severity, and multiple regression analysis was used to assess the relationships between the four family characteristics and six dimensions of severity of the asthmatic condition. No evidence was found to support the psychosomatogenic family model, and an inverse relationship was discovered between the four family characteristics and parents' views of severity. Implications of these findings are discussed along with the importance of multidimensional ratings of severity in future research on the psychosomatic aspects of childhood asthma.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/23716/1/0000688.pd