NCJ Number
218343
Journal
Journal of Adolescence Volume: 30 Issue: 2 Dated: April 2007 Pages: 203-212
Date Published
April 2007
Length
10 pages
Annotation
This study investigated the role of neuroticism and perceived school-related stress in somatic symptoms among a sample of students in Norwegian junior high schools.
Abstract
Results of the study showed that somatic symptoms accounted for a significant proportion of the variance in neuroticism, suggesting that measures of neuroticism are inflated by somatic symptoms. It also suggests that the association between neuroticism and somatic symptoms is likely to be overestimated in cross-sectional studies. The overall findings lend support to the hypothesis that the role of neuroticism on somatic illness may be overestimated, whereas the role of stress may be underestimated if neuroticism and stress are measured at the same time. The results indicate that daily stress in school, as well as neuroticism, are risk factors for subsequent somatic symptoms in adolescents. Adolescents spend a lot of time in school, an arena that can pose social and academic challenges. Previous evidence has suggested that adolescents with high levels of stress are at increased risk of somatic symptoms. The pervasive role of neuroticism in relation to stress and reported somatic symptoms has led some personality researchers to suggest that the associations between stress and somatic symptoms may occur because of the operation of neuroticism. This study investigated the relationships between neuroticism and perceived school-related stress with somatic symptoms among 327 junior high-school students from 2 junior high schools in a city in south west Norway. Tables, references