Epidemiological approach to psychological factors associated with symptom report of health and disease in college students

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: This research investigated differences as assessed by self-report inventories among college students grouped according to health criteria. The basic hypothesis investigated was that individuals who reported greater physical concerns would have correspondingly less desirable scores in other areas of functioning including social status, psychological perception of the self and number of life stresses. This approach incorporates the psychosomatic orientation to health and disease. One hundred and thirty nine single undergraduates composed the subject pool. These individuals were considered as a member of one of five groups. Two of these groups, a "well" and a "sick" groups, were experimental groups, the other three groups served in the cross validation procedure. A packet of information containing the following seven instruments was filled out by all participants: Tennessee Self Concept Scale, Life Events Inventory, Social Assets, Sick Role Questionnaire, Langner Psychiatric Index, Affect-Balance Score, Social Class. A stepwise multiple discriminant function analysis compared the score of individuals in the two experimental groups.

Findings and Conclusions: Individuals who reported greater physical distress were generally shown to have less desirable scores on the included questionnaire. In cross validation procedures, individuals who reported the higher degree of psychological distress were shown to have equally or in some areas less desirable scores than those with physical distress. Psychological distress was also highly associated with physical distress. The five best predictors of differences in physical symptom report were Langner Psychiatric Index, total variability in score, true/false ratio of answers, a neurotic self-assessment and social assets. Knowing that a person views himself with few psychological complaints, is consistent within his view of himself, has a balance of positive and negative views of himself, sees himself as below the norm in neuroticism and with high social assets resulted in a correct classification for all individuals who viewed themselves as having few physical disorders. Only two individuals who reported a large number of physical difficulties were classed most like those who reported little physical difficulty. A cross validation with these predictors resulted in a 86% accurate prediction with a high achievement group, an 87% accurate prediction with a group high in psychological distress and a 43% accurate prediction of people seeking medical services. It was concluded that self report inventories may be helpful in screening individuals with large amounts of either physical or psychological distress, but that such self-assessment inventories among college students were not necessarily predictive of health-seeking behavior.