In Brief:
Persons with somatic symptom disorders (SSDs) report higher emotional reactivity and greater emotion regulation (ER) difficulties in daily life. In addition to self-reports, Schnabel et al. conducted two experimental tasks measuring emotion reactivity, ER, and choice of strategies in which individuals with SSD did not demonstrate alterations compared with healthy people. Thus, abnormalities in emotional processing associated with SSD might not be attributable to performance deficits per se. Extensive ER interventions may not necessarily be indicated for the broad mass of patients with SSD.
