Prediction of Somatic Symptom(somatization) on the Basis of Defensive style and Emotion regulation in University Students

Somatization is a somatoform disorder, which medical examinations are not able to explain its reason. In the present research, the role of Defensive style and Emotion regulation was investigated in somatization disorder. This descriptive and correlational study was conducted on all students studying at University of Tabriz in the academic year 2015-2016. A total of 380 subjects were selected using stratified random sampling method. In this research, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Defense Style Questionnaire and Somatization Questionnaire (PHQ-15),were used. Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and simultaneous regression analysis. The correlation results showed that emotional repression and immature  and neuroticism defense style has a significant positive relationship with somatization. Also, based on the results of simultaneous regression analysis, emotional repression and immature defense style had the greatest ability to predict somatization disorder. The findings of this research revealed that factors, such as Defensive style and Emotion regulation should be considered in the treatment of somatization disorder.