Paradigms in psychosomatic research: a dialectic perspective

By tradition, psychosomatic research has relied on a linear causality model where various psychological and social factors have been correlated to organic disorders. It has become increasingly evident, however, that etiological models based on single causal factors are inadequate. Recently, a reorientation has been noted towards system-oriented multicausality models, which assume that social, psychological, and physiological factors interact in the pathogenesis of a disease. In this review, the limitations and potentials of the linear and system-oriented paradigms are discussed. It is suggested that these perspectives are complementary, and may be applied simultaneously in an integrated, dialectic approach.