Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health
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A longitudinal investigation of the somatisation construct in a nationally representative sample of younger women

Approved: 2017

Collaborators:

  • Dr Anastasia Ejova
  • Dr Natasha Koloski
  • Dr Melissa Harris
  • Prof Nicholas Talley
  • Prof Mike Jones
  • Dr Alissa Beath
  • Prof Marjorie Walker
  • Ms Mallory Devlin
  • Prof Rachel Roberts
  • Dr Rutger de Zoete

Synopsis

Somatisation is classically thought of as the physical expression of psychological distress, yet it is typically measured without reference to distress. Instead, it is measured in terms of whether one is “bothered” “a lot” as opposed to “a little” or “not at all” by each of a set of somatic symptoms (stomach pain, back pain, chest pain, etc.) In assessing somatic-symptom severity on a similar scale at each time point, while also assessing a host of psychological and health indicators, the ALSWH enables the investigation of whether, over time, psychosocial factors do predict somatic-symptom severity over and above health-related factors (e.g., whether one suffers from a serious health condition).