A life-stress, emotional awareness, and expression interview for primary care patients with medically unexplained symptoms: A randomized controlled trial.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:Lifetime trauma, relationship adversities, and emotional conflicts are elevated in primary care patients with medically unexplained symptoms (MUS), and these risk factors likely trigger or exacerbate symptoms. Helping patients disclose stressors, increase awareness and expression of inhibited emotions, and link emotions to physical symptoms may improve health. We developed an emotional awareness and expression interview that targets stressful life experiences and conflicts and then tested its effects on primary care patients with MUS. METHOD:Patients (N = 75) with MUS were recruited at a family medicine clinic and randomized to an interview condition or treatment-as-usual (TAU) control condition. In a single 90-min interview in the clinic, the interviewer elicited disclosure of t

SUBMITTER: Ziadni MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5848463 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature