The Somatic Complaints List: Validation of a self-report questionnaire assessing somatic complaints in children

Objective: To evaluate the Somatic Complaint List (SCL) in children. Method: At T1, 365 fourth and 352 fifth graders completed the SCL, the Children's Somatization Inventory (CSI-C), and the Mood Questionnaire. Parents (n=564) completed the parental form of the CSI-C (CSI-P). Six months later, the stability of the SCL and the CSI-C was assessed. Results: The psychometric properties and stability of the SCL were good. Correlations with the CSI-C, negative moods, and the CSI-P complaints supported the validity. Moreover, the SCL was more strongly associated with negative moods and with parental reports of children's somatic complaints than the CSI-C. Conclusion: The SCL is a suitable questionnaire for assessing somatic complaints in school-aged children. © 2007 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved