School and School Environment as a Determinant for Psychosomatic Complaints

During early adolescence individuals must cope with the biological challenges associated with puberty and the psychological challenges of increased identity differentiation. Another potential source of stress is the school environment. Complaints regarding school may reflect in part problems in adapting to school demands, which in turn, can lead to the emergence of psychosomatic complaints. We investigated if students' perceived school environment and adjustment to school are associated with psychosomatic complaints. The international WHO Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey 2002 was conducted i…