PUB - Publikationen an der Universität Bielefeld

The present study examines sex differences in somatic symptom reports, based on a sample of N = 290 children and adolescents of grades 5, 7, and 9 (mean age = 12.66, SD = 1.68). The study focuses on the question if sex-role expectations influence the reported somatic symptoms. The children and adolescents were asked to report their experienced symptoms and to rate which of the two sexes was more likely to suffer from these symptoms, whereby the symptom-related sex-role expectations were assessed. In addition, participants were asked to fill out a sex role inventory for adolescents, through which more general sex role expectations were assessed. As expected, the results indicate that somatic health problems are reported significantly more often by the female participants. A moderation analysis shows that these sex differences in self-reported symptoms are in fact moderated by symptom-related sex stereotypes, but not by the general sex role expectations. As a consequence, sex differences regarding self-reported symptoms exist in the subgroup of children and adolescents who expect such differences between boys and girls.