Psychosocial variables in the prediction of somatic complaints with applications to stress-related disorders

In Study 1, 280 undergraduate students (177 female, 103 male) were administered a battery of questionnaires assessing functional somatic symptoms, psychosocial variables, and behavioral responses to health-related situations. Significant predictors of functional somatic symptoms differed for females and males. The amount of stress experienced, perceived susceptibility to illness, perceived barriers to health care and level of pain tolerance were significant predictors for males. Significant predictors for females included perceived susceptibility to illness, amount of stress experienced, and not responding to health-related situations by seeking medical attention. A discriminant analysis correctly classified 21.25% of these groups.