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Assessing Somatoform Disorders with the African American Client

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Guide to Psychological Assessment with African Americans

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Abstract

This chapter evaluates the assessment tools currently available for the diagnosis and evaluation of somatoform disorders in the African American (AA) population. A variety of instruments were reviewed, yet the difficulties continuously lie in the expression of symptomatology in the AA client, in comparison to the Caucasian client. Many of the assessment measures were normed on Caucasian samples, therefore poorly lending their usage to the AA population. It is recommended that reliable and well-validated measures be utilized with this population, while being cognizant of the cultural differences in emotional and physical expression.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Psychology Department, Carlos Albizu University, 2173 N.W. 99th Avenue, 33172, Miami, FL, USA

    Samantha M. Behbahani PsyD MS & Robert M. Greenstone MS

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  1. Samantha M. Behbahani PsyD MS
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  2. Robert M. Greenstone MS
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Correspondence to Samantha M. Behbahani PsyD MS .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada, USA

    Lorraine T. Benuto

  2. California Dept of Corrections and Rehab High Desert State Prison, California Correctional Health Care Serv, Susanville, California, USA

    Brian D. Leany

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Behbahani, S., Greenstone, R. (2015). Assessing Somatoform Disorders with the African American Client. In: Benuto, L., Leany, B. (eds) Guide to Psychological Assessment with African Americans. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1004-5_17

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