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Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Functional Somatic...
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Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Functional Somatic Disorders

A special issue of Children (ISSN 2227-9067). This special issue belongs to the section "Child and Adolescent Psychiatry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (5 March 2024) | Viewed by 4830

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Charlotte Ulrikka Rask

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Aarhus University Hospital, 8200 Aarhus, Denmark
Interests: functional somatic disorders; health anxiety; pediatric liaison psychiatry; child psychiatric epidemiology; concurrent somatic and psychiatric health problems in children/adolescents; internetbased psychological treatment; illness perceptions; illness behaviours; developmental trajectories of psychopathology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Functional somatic disorders are commonly encountered in paediatric medicine. These disorders are characterised by the presentation of somatic symptoms or illness worries that are disproportionate to the history, physical examinations, laboratory tests, and other investigative findings. The diagnostic process is often delayed with a risk of excessive and potentially harmful medical investigations.  In addition, there is high psychiatric comorbidity, especially with anxiety and depression.

Without proper treatment, functional somatic disorders place significant psychosocial, educational, and financial strains on children and their families, as well as a substantial burden on the healthcare system with high healthcare costs. In particular, psychological therapies have proven to be effective, but the effects are mostly small to moderate. Thus, there is an urgent need for the improvement of models for systematic assessment, diagnostic tools, and the development of specialised treatment across the spectrum of severity. This Special Issue offers a unique opportunity to contribute to a state-of-the-art series on functional somatic disorders in children and adolescents with special emphasis on studies presenting original research on assessment issues and/or new treatment programmes in this area.

Prof. Dr. Charlotte Ulrikka Rask
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Children is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • functional somatic disorders
  • functional neurological disorder
  • somatic and symptom related disorders
  • bodily distress disorder
  • functional somatic syndromes
  • assessment
  • diagnostics
  • psychotherapy
  • psychoeducation
  • treatments

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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15 pages, 532 KiB  
Article
Prevalence of Somatic Symptoms and Somatoform Disorders among a German Adolescent Psychiatric Inpatient Sample
by Adam Geremek, Clemens Lindner, Martin Jung, Claudia Calvano and Manuel Munz
Children 2024, 11(3), 280; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11030280 - 24 Feb 2024
Viewed by 928
Abstract
Somatoform disorders (SD), commencing during adolescence, represent a major problem in health care systems. While literature underlines the high presence of mental health problems among children and adolescents afflicted by somatic symptoms in the general population, limited evidence is available on the prevalence [...] Read more.
Somatoform disorders (SD), commencing during adolescence, represent a major problem in health care systems. While literature underlines the high presence of mental health problems among children and adolescents afflicted by somatic symptoms in the general population, limited evidence is available on the prevalence of comorbid somatic symptoms in child and adolescent psychiatric populations. We assessed the prevalence of somatic symptoms, depression, and anxiety by validated questionnaires in an inpatient cohort. We further screened for the presence of SD. Out of 434 inpatients aged 11–17 years, 371 were included and a total of n = 288 (77.6%) children and adolescents participated in the study. A total of 93.8% of the inpatients reported somatic symptoms within the past six months and still almost half (45.7%) of the sample reported at least one somatic symptom within the last seven days prior to inquiry. Relating to the past six months, 59.5% were positively screened for SD, and 44.6% reported symptoms eligible for positive screening within the past seven days prior to the survey. Somatoform symptomatology was highly associated with anxiety and depression scores, but functional decline was amenable to the number of somatic symptoms only. We provide evidence that somatic symptoms are frequent in children and adolescents being treated in child and adolescent psychiatry and are relevant to everyday functioning. Screening for somatic symptoms should be introduced in the routine diagnostic procedures for early detection of SD in the commencing stages. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Functional Somatic Disorders)
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34 pages, 2962 KiB  
Article
Illness-Promoting Psychological Processes in Children and Adolescents with Functional Neurological Disorder
by Kasia Kozlowska, Olivia Schollar-Root, Blanche Savage, Clare Hawkes, Catherine Chudleigh, Jyoti Raghunandan, Stephen Scher and Helene Helgeland
Children 2023, 10(11), 1724; https://doi.org/10.3390/children10111724 - 24 Oct 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2708
Abstract
Previous studies suggest that subjective distress in children with functional neurological disorder (FND) is associated with stress-system dysregulation and modulates aberrant changes in neural networks. The current study documents illness-promoting psychological processes in 76 children with FND (60 girls and 16 boys, aged [...] Read more.
Previous studies suggest that subjective distress in children with functional neurological disorder (FND) is associated with stress-system dysregulation and modulates aberrant changes in neural networks. The current study documents illness-promoting psychological processes in 76 children with FND (60 girls and 16 boys, aged 10.00−17.08 years) admitted to the Mind–Body Program. The children completed a comprehensive family assessment and self-report measures, and they worked with the clinical team to identify psychological processes during their inpatient admission. A total of 47 healthy controls (35 girls and 12 boys, aged 8.58–17.92 years) also completed self-report measures, but were not assessed for illness-promoting psychological processes. Children with FND (vs. controls) reported higher levels of subjective distress (total DASS score, t(104.24) = 12.18; p ˂ 0.001) and more adverse childhood experiences across their lifespans (total ELSQ score, t(88.57) = 9.38; p ˂ 0.001). Illness-promoting psychological processes were identified in all children with FND. Most common were the following: chronic worries about schoolwork, friendships, or parental wellbeing (n = 64; 84.2%); attention to symptoms (n = 61; 80.3%); feeling sad (n = 58; 76.3%); experiencing a low sense of control (helplessness) in relation to symptoms (n = 44; 57.9%); pushing difficult thoughts out of mind (n = 44; 57.9%); self-critical rumination (n = 42; 55.3%); negative/catastrophic-symptom expectations (n = 40; 52.6%); avoidance of activities (n = 38; 50%); intrusive thoughts/feelings/memories associated with adverse events (n = 38, 50%); and pushing difficult feelings out of mind (n = 37; 48.7%). In children with FND—disabled enough to be admitted for inpatient treatment—illness-promoting psychological processes are part of the clinical presentation. They contribute to the child’s ongoing sense of subjective distress, and if not addressed can maintain the illness process. A range of clinical interventions used to address illness-promoting psychological processes are discussed, along with illustrative vignettes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Functional Somatic Disorders)
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Review

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13 pages, 363 KiB  
Review
Inflammatory Markers in Children and Adolescents with Functional Somatic Disorders: A Systematic Review
by Anne Sofie Hansen, Charlotte Ulrikka Rask and Karen Hansen Kallesøe
Children 2024, 11(5), 549; https://doi.org/10.3390/children11050549 - 3 May 2024
Viewed by 427
Abstract
Functional somatic disorders (FSDs) are common in children and adolescents. Recent findings suggest that low-grade inflammation has a role in the development and maintenance of pediatric FSDs. This systematic review included studies with original data on systemic inflammatory markers in children and adolescents [...] Read more.
Functional somatic disorders (FSDs) are common in children and adolescents. Recent findings suggest that low-grade inflammation has a role in the development and maintenance of pediatric FSDs. This systematic review included studies with original data on systemic inflammatory markers in children and adolescents with an FSD compared to individuals without an FSD. The literature search identified 1374 articles. After assessment, a total of 15 studies met the inclusion criteria. In total, 41 serum or plasma cytokines were assayed in a population of 696 children and adolescents. Altered cytokine levels in patients with FSDs were reported in 12 studies, whereas three studies found no significant differences when comparing patients with FSDs and controls. The cytokine levels were significantly elevated in nine studies (i.e., IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12 (p70), CRP, hsCRP, IP-10, MCP-1, sTIM-3, sCD25 and TNF-). The findings indicate that inflammatory response may have a role in the pathophysiology of pediatric FSDs. However, the included studies showed limited quality with potential risk of bias, small study populations and a narrow spectrum of included FSDs, which limits the generalizability of the results. To further explore the potential link between inflammatory markers and pediatric FSDs, future research using a longitudinal study design is recommended. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Assessment and Treatment of Children and Adolescents with Functional Somatic Disorders)
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