Somatization Syndrome as a Function of Feminine Gender Role Stress and Negative Affect

Recent research regarding the assessment of somatization disorder has indicated the presence of other clinical features associated with the condition including the presence of medically unexplained symptoms, illness behavior, and health anxiety. These features have strongly and consistently been shown to occur more often and with greater frequency in women than in men. Feminine gender role expectations and negative affect have been implicated in the increased prevalence of somatization among women. This study sought to examine somatization syndrome as a latent construct comprised of medically unexplained symptoms, illness behavior, and health anxiety, predicted by feminine gender role stress (FGRS), and mediated by negative affect. Undergraduate women from Seattle Pacific University were invited to participate in this study, and data was collected online. A total of 241 women participated in this study, of which 207 completed an adequate amount of data for analysis. Participants ranged in age from 18 to 31-years-old (M = 19.48, SD = 1.87), and were primarily Caucasian (78.3%). The original measurement model produced an inadmissible solution resulting from a Heywood case. A revised measurement model excluded illness behavior. Results of the study provided support for a two-indicator, single-factor model of somatization syndrome comprised of medically unexplained symptoms and health anxiety (chi 2 = 6.654, df = 1, p = 0.01, GFI = 0.984, CFI = 0.952, RMSEA = 0.166, CI = .065 to .294, p = .032). Additionally, results of a bias-corrected bootstrap indicated FGRS was a significant predictor of somatization syndrome (beta = 0.404, SE = .086; 95% CI = .248 to .583) and the relationship between FGRS and somatization syndrome was partially mediated by negative affect (beta = .139, 95% CI = -.037 to .319). The findings of this study clearly suggest that women who over-subscribe to a caricature of femininity, judge themselves as falling short, and respond to stress with negative affect are more likely to suffer psychosomatic consequences. Findings of this study have broad implications for conceptualizing somatization disorder and addressing gender-specific stressors and negative affect as risk factors for somatization in women.