| Abstract: | The literature on somatic complaints in children without a clear physical medical cause often demonstrates connections with various psychological factors, such as negative emotions and problems handling them, poor self‐image, and coping potential. We entered these elements into a structural model to elucidate the relationships among them and tested it on 330 children (mean age 10 years and 9 months). The results showed that mood balance contributed most to the prediction of self‐reported somatic complaints. Moreover, mood (in combination with anxiety and depression problems) had an indirect impact on children's somatic complaints by influencing self‐esteem. The influence and position of coping was less clear. The results are discussed in terms of the ‘symptom perception theory’. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
