The association between parenting behaviour and somatisation in adolescents explained by physiological responses in adolescents

Introduction: This study adds to the knowledge on somatization in adolescents by exploring its relationwith parenting behavior and the mediating/moderating role of physiological responses in adolescents to parenting behavior. Method: Eighteen adolescents with high and 18 adolescents with low somatization scores and their mothers completed a discussion task, from which observed parenting behavior scores were derived. Skin conductance in adolescents was measured before and during the discussion. Results: For adolescents with high levels of physiological responses, unadaptive parentingwas related to a higher chance of high somatization scores. For low physiologically responsive adolescents, the relation between parenting behavior and somatization was not significant. Conclusion: Parenting behavior is not univocally related to somatization in adolescents, but the association depends on physiological responses in adolescents.publisher: Elsevier articletitle: The association between parenting behavior and somatization in adolescents explained by physiological responses in adolescents journaltitle: International Journal of Psychophysiology articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2014.05.008 content_type: article copyright: Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.status: publishe