Effect of early life experiences and personality on the reporting of psychosocial distress in general practice - A preliminary investigation

Background. About 25% of primary care attenders are 'somatic presenters'; individuals consulting for physically-attributed somatic symptoms in the presence of psychiatric morbidity. We tested the hypothesis that somatic presenters differed from psychological presenters on measures of personality and childhood experience. Method. Case-control study of 'psychological presenters' and 'somatic presenters'. Results. Psychological presenters reported significantly greater insecurity in intimate relationships, and recalled their fathers as significantly less caring and more over-protective, than somatic presenters. These differences remained after adjusting for differences in the severity and duration of psychiatric symptoms. Conclusions. Personality and childhood experiences may be associated with specific types of adult illness behaviour, independent of associations with the prevalence of psychiatric disorder.