Brief Description
The DSM-5 Level 2 Somatic Symptoms, Child (DSM-5 II Som-C) assesses the domain of somatic symptoms in children and adolescents. The DSM-5 II Som-C measures how much a person has been bothered by somatic (physical) symptoms such as headaches, back pain, nausea, or trouble sleeping. Somatic means related to the body (not the mind). The DSM-5 II Som-C can be used to help diagnose a client with Somatic Symptom Disorder, to track somatic symptoms associated with Somatic Symptom Disorder, and/or to track somatic-associated symptoms connected to another disorder or issue such as depression, anxiety, or panic. Respondents rate how often they are bothered by the somatic symptoms listed (e.g., “stomach pain”) on a scale from “Not bothered at all” to “Bothered a lot.”
Assessment Administration Type
Self-report
Number of questions
13
Age Range for Administration
11-17
Recommended Frequency of Administration
Weekly
Summary of Scoring and Interpretations
The DSM-5 II Som-C contains 13 questions scored on a 3-point Likert scale with values from 0 (“Not bothered at all”) to 2 ("Bothered a lot"). A total raw score is calculated by summing the item responses and ranges from 0 to 26; higher scores are associated with more severe/prevalent somatic symptoms. To interpret the scores the same as the DSM-5 Level 2 Somatic Symptoms, Adult (which contains 15 questions and a total score of 30 instead of 13 questions and a total score of 26), you would calculate a prorated score using the following formula:
See below for a table of total score interpretations.
Prorated Score | Level of Somatic Symptom Severity |
0-4 | Minimal |
5-9 | Low |
10-14 | Medium |
15-30 | High |
Blueprint Adjustments
Note: Blueprint has made conversions on the backend and adjusted the score cut-offs to fit the above table such that for total raw scores:
Total Raw Score | Level of Somatic Symptom Severity |
0-3 | Minimal |
4-8 | Low |
9-12 | Medium |
13-26 | High |
Clinical Considerations
Estimated completion time: 3-5 minutes
There are also adult and parent-report versions.
This assessment is adapted from the Patient Health Questionnaire Physical Symptoms (PHQ-15), with one of the main changes involving frequency/cadence of administration; the PHQ-15 asks about symptoms over the last 4 weeks while the DSM-5 II Som-C asks about symptoms over the last week.
The word "somatic" refers to the body. In other words, somatic symptoms are feelings or sensations in a person's physical body such as headaches, back pain, nausea, or trouble sleeping.
Consistently high scores on a particular domain may indicate significant and problematic areas for the child that might warrant further assessment, treatment, and follow-up. Your clinical judgment should help guide your decision.
Somatic Symptom Disorder is when a person has excessive thoughts, feelings, or behaviors related to the somatic symptoms. The somatic symptoms may or may not be related to an underlying medical condition. The most important part of this diagnosis is that the symptoms cause excessive distress and problems functioning.
Citation
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