Ricerc@Sapienza

Despite the fact that somatic symptoms are related to the quality of attachment, few studies have been conducted to explore the variables that mediate this relationship in childhood. The present study investigates the role of anxiety, attachment to peers, and depressive symptoms as mediators of the relationship between attachment to parents and somatic symptoms. 340 children (49.1% males) between the ages of 8-11 (Mean age=9.25, SD=0.89) participated in this study.

The association among alexithymia, somatic symptoms and clinical correlates has been
scantly investigated in children. The present study examined alexithymic features and
somatic symptomatology in schoolchildren with high and low levels of depression,
testing the role of depressive symptoms in mediating the associations between
alexithymia and somatic symptoms. Seven-hundred schoolchildren were involved in this
study and divided into two subgroups (8–10 years and 11–14 years) in order to test