Somatoform disorders in children and adolescents: a review of the past 10 years.

OBJECTIVE: To review the literature on somatoform disorders in children and adolescents relevant to recertification by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

METHOD: The psychiatric, pediatric, and psychological literatures were searched for clinical or research articles in the past 10 years dealing with somatization and somatoform disorders.

RESULTS: Somatizing presentations are organized conceptually; somatization disorder, body dysmorphic disorder, hypochondriasis, conversion disorder, vocal cord dysfunction, pain disorder, and recurrent abdominal pain are described in children and adolescents; empirical evidence for treatment efficacy is scant, but clinically reasonable approaches are applied.

CONCLUSION: More developmentally appropriate diagnostic schemas and better outcome studies are needed in all the somatoform disorders for children and adolescents.