The Relationship between Personality Traits, Alexithymia, and Illness Attitudes on Somatizing Tendencies in College Students

Somatization, which involves the physical experience of psychological distress, is influenced by a myriad of factors. A hierarchical regression (3 step) was conducted using a sample of 224 college students. Analyses showed that gender, Big Five personality traits, alexithymia, and illness attitudes significantly predicted somatizing tendencies.