Somatic illness and psychosocial risk among military Amerasian adolescents and young adults in Luzon, the Philippines

Abstract

There are very few empirical mental health studies of military Filipino Amerasians, progeny of United States servicemen and Filipina national mothers abandoned during overseas duty. A preliminary finding in a 3-year, multiple-case study focusing primarily on stigmatization-related psychosocial risk and stress and their relationship to core mental health symptomatology showed elevated prevalence (56%) of somatic illness and probable somatization disorder among the sample (N = 16). Somatic complaints were categorized as a mental stress factor in the overall study showing (62.5%) scoring severe levels of anxiety, depression or stress using the Depression, Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). The unexpected presence of somatic illness is noteworthy and with palliative implications for medical and clinical social workers and allied health professionals. Such practitioners are likely to encounter Amerasian clients who apparently number well over 50,000 throughout the archipelago, and treat Amerasians having experienced racial stigmatization and presenting psychosomatic physical ailments possibly masking somatization complications and psychopathological disorder.

Keywords:

• Filipino Amerasians
• somatic illness
• stigmatization
• psychosocial risk
• military prostitution

Acknowledgements

Professor Marie A. Caputi, PhD, College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Walden University, USA, for her mentorship and steadfast assistance during the conduct of this study and her continued support of empirical research concerning Filipino and Pan Amerasians.