The relationship between young Irish adults' attachment style, current psychological well-being and somatic pain presentation

Abstract

Somatic pain symptoms are commonly reported in adults. The relationship between common pain symptoms such as headaches, musculoskeletal pain, GI and chest pain and a young Irish adult’s current psychological well-being has not been studied adequately to date. The current study looks at how factors that have been found to moderate pain, such as, childhood abuse/neglect, insecure attachment style, high levels of dissociation, and having an internalising response to stress which results in low mood, and high anxiety relate to an increase in somatic concerns. A sample of Irish young adults (18-25 years; N=761 who completed the survey of which 1259 started) responded to a university press release inviting them to respond to commonly reported feelings of dissociation. Emails were sent to students and social media links. Participants were invited to click a link to complete an online survey. High levels of somatic pain were reported in the previous month- including being bothered a little or a lot by back pain (73%), GI upset (57%), pain in joints (56%), headaches (56%), stomach pain (54%), constipation (48%), menstrual pain (40%), and chest pain (20%). Profile analyses resulted in important differences in somatic complaints across young adults when current attachment style, psychological well-being and degree of the presence of childhood abuse were compared. Recommendations will be made in relation to primary care practice, as well as how to address future research needs for this young adult population- who are learning to independently interact with the medical services available to them.