Skip to main content
Key Specialties
Cardiology Diabetology Endocrinology Gastroenterology Geriatrics and Gerontology Gynecology and Obstetrics Hematology Infectious Disease Internal Medicine Nephrology Neurology Oncology Pediatrics Respiratory Medicine Rheumatology Surgery
Congress Coverage
2024 ACC Congress 2023 ESMO Congress 2023 EASD Congress 2023 ERS Congress 2023 ESC Congress
Clinical Collections
Advances in Alzheimer’s

At a glance: The ONWARDS insulin icodec trials

A round-up of the ONWARDS phase 3 clinical trials evaluating the novel weekly insulin icodec in people with diabetes.
ADVANCED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
Published in: Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 1/2018

Open Access 01-12-2018 | Research article

Gender differences in the prevalence and impact factors of hysterical tendencies in adolescents from three eastern Chinese provinces

Authors: Qinglin Cheng, Li Xie, Yunkai Hu, Jinfeng Hu, Wei Gao, Yongxiang Lv, Yong Xu

Published in: Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine | Issue 1/2018

Login to get access

Abstract

Background

Few studies have attempted to compare the differences in the prevalence and impact factors of hysterical tendencies (HTs) in adolescents. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine gender differences in the prevalence and impact factors of adolescents’ HTs across three eastern Chinese provinces (Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang).

Methods

A multicenter, school-based, cross-sectional study was conducted in three provinces (Anhui, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang) in China in 2014. The sample included 10,131 middle-school students aged 13–18 years who were randomly selected using a multiphase, stratified, cluster sampling technique. A two-stage appraisal procedure was used to determine the adolescents’ HTs. We also designed a multicenter, school-based, case control (1329 cases with 2661 control individuals) study to collect data on the common factors affecting this population using a common protocol and questionnaire.

Results

An overall positive rate of HTs among adolescents across the three eastern Chinese provinces studied was found at 13.1% (95% confidence interval (CI) 12.5–13.8%), at 14.5% (95% CI 13.3–15.7%) for females, and at 12.2% (95% CI 11.1–13.4%) for males. Gender-stratified, multiple conditional regression analyses revealed that superstitious beliefs pertaining to life, somatotype, teacher–student satisfaction, and family achievement orientation were significantly linked to HTs only in males, while left-behind adolescents, emotional and social adaptation, teacher–student support, family cohesion, and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale - depression scores were significantly associated with female HTs only. The models indicated that of all the independent variables studied, family medical history was the strongest impact factor for both male HTs (adjusted matched odds ratio (amOR) = 2.92, 95% CI = 1.84–4.86) and female HTs (amOR = 2.74, 95% CI = 1.59–4.98).

Conclusions

HTs are prevalent among adolescents in the three eastern Chinese provinces studied. Gender differences in the prevalence and impact factors of HTs are significant in adolescents, and HTs seem to affect more females than males. Therefore, sex-specific intervention programs against HTs in adolescents should be considered to reduce HT prevalence in adolescents by modifying influential social, school, and family factors.
Literature
1.
Abse DW. Hysteria and related mental disorders: an approach to psychological medicine. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann; 2013.
2.
Lovinger S. Conversion hysteria in a pre-adolescent girl. Psychoanal Soc Work. 2006;12:47–61.CrossRef
3.
Hofstra MB, Van Der Ende J, Verhulst FC. Child and adolescent problems predict DSM-IV disorders in adulthood: a 14-year follow-up of a Dutch epidemiological sample. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2002;41:182–9.CrossRefPubMed
4.
Coons PM. The dissociative disorders. Rarely considered and underdiagnosed. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 1998;21:637–48.CrossRefPubMed
5.
Sar V. Epidemiology of dissociative disorders. An overview. Epidemiol Res Int. 2011;2011:1–8.CrossRef
6.
Mueller-Pfeiffer C, Rufibach K, Perron N, Wyss D, Kuenzler C, Prezewowsky C, et al. Global functioning and disability in dissociative disorders. Psychiatry Res. 2012;200:475–81.CrossRefPubMed
7.
Stein DJ, Koenen KC, Friedman MJ, Hill E, McLaughlin KA, Petukhova M, et al. Dissociation in posttraumatic stress disorder: evidence from the world mental health surveys. Biol Psychiatry. 2013;73:302–12.CrossRefPubMed
8.
Kokota D. View point: episodes of mass hysteria in African schools: a study of literature. Malawi Med J. 2011;23:74–7.PubMedPubMedCentral
9.
Ouss L, Tordjman E. Conversive disorders among children and adolescents: towards new “complementarist” paradigms? Clin Neurophysiol. 2014;44:411–6.CrossRef
10.
Kozlowska K, Palmer DM, Brown KJ, Scher S, Chudleigh C, Davies F, et al. Conversion disorder in children and adolescents: a disorder of cognitive control. J Neuropsychol. 2015;9:87–108.CrossRefPubMed
11.
Lieb R, Pfister H, Mastaler M, Witcchen H-U. Somatoform syndromes and disorders in a representative sample of adolescents and young adults: prevalence, comorbidity and impairment. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2000;101:194–208.CrossRefPubMed
12.
Malhi P, Singhi P. Clinical characteristics and outcome of children and adolescents with conversion disorder. Indian Pediatr. 2002;39:747–52.PubMed
13.
Obimakinde AM, Ladipo MM, Irabor AE. Familial and socio-economic correlates of somatisation disorder. Afr J Prim Health Care Fam Med. 2015;7:1–8.CrossRef
14.
Neeleman J, Ormel J, Bijl RV. The distribution of psychiatric and somatic ill health: associations with personality and socioeconomic status. Psychosom Med. 2001;63:239–47.CrossRefPubMed
15.
Scaife B, Gill PS, Heywood PL, Neal RD. Socio-economic characteristics of adult frequent attenders in general practice: secondary analysis of data. Fam Pract. 2000;17:298–304.CrossRefPubMed
16.
Sham FM, Hamjah SH, Ariff MI, Ismail R, Mohamed SN, Muhamat R. A study of hysteria among youth in a secondary school in Malaysia. Adv Nat Appl Sci. 2012;6:565–72.
17.
Chodoff P, Lyons H. Hysteria, the hysterical personality and “hysterical” conversion. Am J Psychiatry. 1958;114:734–40.CrossRefPubMed
18.
Halleck SL. Hysterical personality traits: psychological, social, and iatrogenic determinants. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 1967;16:750–7.CrossRefPubMed
19.
Kihlstrom JF, Glisky ML, Angiulo MJ. Dissociative tendencies and dissociative disorders. J Abnorm Psychol. 1994;103:117–24.CrossRefPubMed
20.
Groth-Marnat G. Handbook of psychological assessment. 4th ed. New Jersey: Wiley; 2009.
21.
Chen CS, Yen CF, Lin HF, Yang P. Mass hysteria and perceptions of the supernatural among adolescent girl students in Taiwan. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2003;191:122–3.PubMed
22.
Zoccolillo M. Co-occurrence of conduct disorder and its adult outcomes with depressive and anxiety disorders: a review. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1992;31:547–56.CrossRefPubMed
23.
Lazare A, Klerman GL. Hysteria and depression: the frequency and significance of hysterical personality features in hospitalized depressed women. Am J Psychiatry. 1968;124:48–56.CrossRef
24.
25.
Zhang J, Song W, Cheung FM. The Chinese Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) (Chinese language edition). Beijing: Geological Press; 2004. (In Chinese)
26.
Cheung FM, Cheung SF, Zhang J. Convergent validity of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2: preliminary findings with a normative sample. J Pers Assess. 2004;82:92–103.CrossRefPubMed
27.
Archer RP. Using the MMPI with adolescents. New York: Routledge; 2015.
28.
Espelage DL, Cauffman E, Broidy LM, Steiner H. A cluster-analytic investigation of MMPI profiles of serious male and female juvenile offenders. J Am Acad Child Psy. 2003;42:770–7.CrossRef
29.
Gumbiner J, Arriaga T, Stevens A. Comparison of MMPI–A, Marks and Briggs, and MMPI–2 norms for juvenile delinquents. Psychol Rep. 1999;84:761–6.CrossRefPubMed
30.
Tellegen A, Ben-Porath Y. The new uniform t-scores for the MMPI-2: rationale, derivation, and appraisal. Psychol Assess. 1992;4:145–55.CrossRef
31.
Ji SM, Dai ZS, Li MX. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory––a new study and assessment of multiple scales. Beijing: Science Press; 2004. (In Chinese)
32.
Yung YF, Chan W, Cheung FM, Leung K, Law JS, Zhang JX. Standardization of the Chinese Personality Assessment Inventory: the prototype standardization method and its rationale. Asian J Soc Psychol. 2000;3:133–52.CrossRef
33.
Gong Y. The manual of Wechsler adult intelligence scale revised in China. Changsha: Hunan Medical University Press; 1992.
34.
Choi AL, Zhang Y, Sun G, Bellinger DC, Wang K, Yang XJ, et al. Association of lifetime exposure to fluoride and cognitive functions in Chinese children: a pilot study. Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2015;47:96–101.CrossRefPubMed
35.
Breslau N, Paneth N, Lucia VC, Paneth-Pollak R. Maternal smoking during pregnancy and offspring IQ. Int J Epidemiol. 2005;34:1047–53.CrossRefPubMed
36.
Zhang YB. The current situation and relationship of self-cognition, self-evaluation and adaptation of Chinese junior high school students. Beijing: Tsinghua University; 2008. (In Chinese)
37.
Zhang DJ, Jiang Q. A report on construction of adaptation scale for adolescent. Stud Psychol Behav. 2006;4:81–4. (In Chinese)
38.
Pianta RC. The Student–Teacher Relationship Scale. Charlottesville: University of Virginia; 2001.
39.
Qu ZY. The characteristics of class environment and its relationship with students’ school adjustment in primary and middle school. Beijing: Beijing Normal University; 2002. (In Chinese)
40.
Wei YH. A study on structure model and factors influencing the self-esteem development in children and adolescents. Beijing: Beijing Normal University; 1997. (In Chinese)
41.
Borduin CM, Ronis ST. Research note: Individual, family, peer, and academic characteristics of female serious juvenile offenders. Youth Violence Juv Justice. 2012;10:386–400.
42.
Moos RH, Moos BS. Manual for the family environment scale, vol. 50. Palo Alto: Consulting Psychologists Press; 1981. p. 33–56.
43.
Phillips MR, West CL, Shen Q, Zheng Y. Comparison of schizophrenic patients’ families and normal families in China, using Chinese versions of FACES-II and the family environment scales. Fam Process. 1998;37:95–106.CrossRefPubMed
44.
Bjelland I, Dahl AA, Haug TT, Neckelmann D. The validity of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale: an updated literature review. J Psychosom Res. 2002;52:69–77.CrossRefPubMed
45.
Leung CM, Wing YK, Kwong PK, Lo A, Shum K. Validation of the Chinese-Cantonese version of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and comparison with the Hamilton Rating Scale of Depression. Acta Psychiatr Scand. 1999;100:456–61.CrossRefPubMed
46.
Hong JS, Tian J. Prevalence of anxiety and depression and their risk factors in Chinese cancer patients. Support Care Cancer. 2014;22:453–9.CrossRefPubMed
47.
48.
Zahn-Waxler C, Shirtcliff EA, Marceau K. Disorders of childhood and adolescence: gender and psychopathology. Annu Rev Clin Psychol. 2008;4:275–303.CrossRefPubMed
49.
Lewis AJ, Kremer P, Douglas K, Toumborou JW, Hameed MA, Patton GC, et al. Gender differences in adolescent depression: differential female susceptibility to stressors affecting family functioning. Aust J Psychol. 2015;67:131–9.CrossRef
50.
Pearlin LI. The life course and the stress process: some conceptual comparisons. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2010;65:207–15.CrossRef
51.
Thoits PA. Stress and health major findings and policy implications. J Health Soc Behav. 2010;51:S41–53.CrossRefPubMed
52.
Moreira JFG, Telzer EH. Changes in family cohesion and links to depression during the college transition. J Adolesc. 2015;43:72–82.CrossRef
53.
Elliott M. Gender differences in causes of depression. Women Health. 2001;33:183–98.CrossRef
54.
Zhang N, Bécares L, Chandola T. Does the timing of parental migration matter for child growth? A life course study on left-behind children in rural China. BMC Public Health. 2015;15:966.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
55.
Gao Y, Li LP, Kim JH, Congdon N, Lau J, Griffiths S. The impact of parental migration on health status and health behaviours among left behind adolescent school children in China. BMC Public Health. 2010;10:56.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
56.
Xu Y, Farver JAM, Shin Y. Shyness and psychosocial functioning in South Korean children. Eur J Pers. 2014;28:147–55.CrossRef
57.
Wentzel KR. Social relationships and motivation in middle school: the role of parents, teachers, and peers. J Educ Psychol. 1998;90:202–9.CrossRef
58.
Cornelius-White J. Learner-centered teacher-student relationships are effective: a meta-analysis. Rev Educ Res. 2007;77:113–43.CrossRef
59.
Reddy R, Rhodes JE, Mulhall P. The influence of teacher support on student adjustment in the middle school years: a latent growth curve study. Dev Psychopathol. 2003;15:119–38.CrossRefPubMed
60.
Frymier AB, Houser ML. The teacher-student relationship as an interpersonal relationship. Commun Educ. 2000;49:207–19.CrossRef
61.
Reiss F. Socioeconomic inequalities and mental health problems in children and adolescents: a systematic review. Soc Sci Med. 2013;90:24–31.CrossRefPubMed
62.
Peris TS, Sugar CA, Bergman RL, Chang S, Langley A, Piacentini J. Family factors predict treatment outcome for pediatric obsessive-compulsive disorder. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2012;80:255–63.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
63.
Ani C, Reading R, Lynn R, Forlee S, Garralda E. Incidence and 12-month outcome of non-transient childhood conversion disorder in the UK and Ireland. Br J Psychiatry. 2013;202:413–8.CrossRefPubMed
64.
Pehlivantürk B, Unal F. Conversion disorder in children and adolescents: clinical features and comorbidity with depressive and anxiety disorders. Turkish J Pediatr. 1999;42:132–7.
65.
Evren C, Can S. Clinical correlates of dissociative tendencies in male soldiers with conversion disorder. Isr J Psychiatry Relat Sci. 2007;44:33–9.PubMed
66.
Becker-Blease KA, Deater-Deckard K, Eley T, Freyd JJ, Stevenson J, Plomin R. A genetic analysis of individual differences in dissociative behaviors in childhood and adolescence. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2004;45:522–32.CrossRefPubMed
67.
Cummings CM, Caporino NE, Kendall PC. Comorbidity of anxiety and depression in children and adolescents: 20 years after. Psychol Bull. 2014;140:816–45.CrossRefPubMed
68.
Sheeber L, Hops H, Alpert A, Davis B, Andrews J. Family support and conflict: prospective relations to adolescent depression. J Abnorm Child Psychol. 1997;25:333–44.CrossRefPubMed
69.
Timmons AC, Margolin G. Family conflict, mood, and adolescents’ daily school problems: moderating roles of internalizing and externalizing symptoms. Child Dev. 2015;86:241–58.CrossRefPubMed
70.
Köteles F, Freyler A, Kökönyei G, Bárdos G. Family background of modern health worries, somatosensory amplification, and health anxiety: a questionnaire study. J Health Psychol. 2015;20:1549–57.CrossRefPubMed
71.
McLaughlin KA, Gadermann AM, Hwang I, Sampson NA, Al-Hamzawi A, Andrade LH, et al. Parent psychopathology and offspring mental disorders: results from the WHO World Mental Health Surveys. Br J Psychiatry. 2012;200:290–9.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral
72.
Eley TC, McAdams TA, Rijsdijk FV, Lichtenstein P, Narusyte J, Reiss D, et al. The intergenerational transmission of anxiety: a children-of-twins study. Am J Psychiatry. 2015;172:630–7.CrossRefPubMed
73.
Hammen C, Hazel NA, Brennan PA, Najman J. Intergenerational transmission and continuity of stress and depression: depressed women and their offspring in 20 years of follow-up. Psychol Med. 2012;42:931–42.CrossRefPubMed
Metadata
Title
Gender differences in the prevalence and impact factors of hysterical tendencies in adolescents from three eastern Chinese provinces
Authors
Qinglin Cheng
Li Xie
Yunkai Hu
Jinfeng Hu
Wei Gao
Yongxiang Lv
Yong Xu
Publication date
01-12-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine / Issue 1/2018
Print ISSN: 1342-078X
Electronic ISSN: 1347-4715
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12199-018-0695-2

Other articles of this Issue 1/2018

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine 1/2018 Go to the issue

Research article

Gender differences in the psychophysiological effects induced by VOCs emitted from Japanese cedar (Cryptomeria japonica)

Research article

The effect of noise exposure on insulin sensitivity in mice may be mediated by the JNK/IRS1 pathway

Commentary

Synergistic effects of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and exercise intensity on memory in the adolescent brain: a commentary

Research article

Characteristics of facial expression recognition ability in patients with Lewy body disease

Research article

Association of hemoglobin concentration with handgrip strength in relation to hepatocyte growth factor levels among elderly Japanese men aged 60–69 years: a cross-sectional study

Short communication

Ultrasound cardiography examinations detect victims’ long-term realized and potential consequences after major disasters: a case-control study