Am J Psychiatry 1989; 146:1193-1196
Copyright © 1989 by American Psychiatric Association
Birth order of patients with DSM-III-R somatization disorder
FW Brown and GR Smith Jr
Department of Psychiatry, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock 72205.
A sample of 143 patients, 76 meeting strict DSM-III-R criteria for
somatization disorder and 67 somatizers, was studied using Slater's index
to measure birth order position. The results showed that birth order
position was not associated with the diagnosis of somatization disorder and
that sibship position in both groups occurred by chance. Thus, although
environmental factors may influence the development of somatization
disorder, the expression of environmental influence through birth order is
unlikely.
