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OBJECTIVE: To provide a new approach for conceptualizing and studying functional somatic symptoms (FSS) in children and adolescence. METHODS: A developmental model is proposed based on the synthesis of the extant literature and previous theoretical perspectives of FSS in children and adolescents. RESULTS: Multiple risk and protective factors from child, familial, social, and environmental domains, the interactions across risk domains, and potential developmental pathways of FSS are identified. CONCLUSIONS: This article underscores the necessity of taking a broader, developmental view of FSS. The tenets of developmental psychopathology emphasize the utility of viewing FSS on a continuum of severity rather than as a discrete entity or diagnosis. This article concludes with directions for future research and treatment implications.
J. E. Beck (Tue,) studied this question.