Exploring the course of (FSS) from pre- to late adolescence and associated internalizing psychopathology, 2024, Münker, Rosmalen et al

Full title: Exploring the course of functional somatic symptoms (FSS) from pre- to late adolescence and associated internalizing psychopathology – an observational cohort-study

Abstract

Background
Functional somatic symptoms (FSS), which commonly cannot be attributed to well-defined organic pathology, often co-occur with internalizing psychopathology and fluctuate throughout different life stages. We examined FSS courses throughout adolescence, and the association between preadolescent FSS, FSS severity and internalizing psychopathology at late adolescence.

Methods
Data from the Copenhagen Child Cohort (CCC2000) were utilized from assessments at ages 11–12 years (preadolescence; T0) and 16–17 years (late adolescence; T1). Self-report questionnaire and interview data on FSS, internalizing psychopathology, chronic medical conditions, and sociodemographic data from Danish national registers were available for 1285 youths. FSS courses were categorized into persistent (high FSS at T0 & T1), remission (high FSS only at T0), incident (high FSS only at T1) or no FSS (no FSS at T0 & T1). Multiple linear and multinomial logistic regressions were conducted to investigate the FSS/psychopathology association.

Results
1.8% of adolescents fell into the persistent FSS course group throughout adolescence. Higher preadolescent FSS predicted FSS (b = 0.07, p < .001), anxiety (b = 0.05, p < .001) and depression (b = 0.06, p < .001) at age 16/17, even after controlling for sex, parental education, a chronic medical condition and internalizing psychopathology in preadolescence. Persistent, incident, and remittent FSS courses were associated with significantly higher mean levels of anxiety and depression compared to the reference group (no FSS).

Conclusions
FSS during pre- and late adolescence might increase and co-occur with anxiety and depression throughout adolescence, potentially due to shared underlying risk factors and processes.

Open access, https://bmcpsychiatry.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12888-024-05937-3

 

Overlapping questions lead to overlapping answers lead to mass confusion when the context is entirely ignored, volume 67.

They use 'predict' incorrectly here. The most generous interpretation is that they are completely unaware that being ill is terrible. Or that their own beliefs about illnesses are relevant to someone else's subjective experience of illness. So in a question of whether it's malicious or incompetent, the only answer here is: yes.

Incompetence rarely rises to the level of criminal, but this is just excessive.