Somatic Complaints in Anxious Youth

Abstract

Objective: This study examined (a) the distribution of physical symptoms in youth with specific primary anxiety disorders (i.e. separation anxiety disorder [SAD], generalized anxiety disorder [GAD], and social phobia [SP]) and (b) their response to treatment with cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT; 14 sessions of CBT over the course of 12 weeks), medication, combination therapy (CBT + medication), or pill placebo in a sample. Method: Anxiety disordered youth (N = 488, age 7-17) who met criteria for a primary diagnosis of GAD, SAD, and/or SP as part of the Child/Adolescent Anxiety Multimodal Study (CAMS; Walkup et al. 2008) were included in this study. The sample was diverse and included children with comorbid secondary diagnoses. Results: The most common somatic complaints were headache, stomach pain or aches, feeling drowsy or too sleepy, head cold or sniffles, and sleeplessness. The distribution of these complaints did not differ across diagnostic groups. The number and severity of physical symptoms decreased over the course of treatment. Treatment condition, including placebo, was unrelated to the number and severity of physical symptoms posttreatment. Conclusions: Treatment of anxiety leads to a decrease in the number and severity of physical symptoms experienced in anxiety-disordered youth, irrespective of treatment type.