in symptom reporting are associated with biased attention towardsthe body.Method: Ninety-eight primary care attendees completed measuresof physical symptom reporting (PHQ-15), health care utilisation, co-morbid physical conditions (CCI), trait anxiety (STAI-T), healthanxiety (HAI-short), anxiety (BSI) and depression (BSI), as well as amodality bias task (MBT) designed to assess body-focus. The MBTconsisted of a series of body relevant and body irrelevant pictures,half of which were threatening and half were neutral. Each picturewas followed by a target in either the visual or tactile modality.Participants judged the target location (right/left) and performancedata were analysed.Results: There were significant positive correlations betweensymptom reporting and reaction times (RTs) to both tactile andvisual targets following neutral body relevant/irrelevant and threat-ening body irrelevant pictures, but not following threatening bodyrelevant pictures. Body focus (ie. tactile RTs minus visual RTs) didnot correlate with symptom reporting. After controlling for co-morbid physical conditions, trait anxiety, health anxiety, anxiety anddepression, RTs to tactile targets following threatening bodyirrelevant pictures were associated with symptom reporting andhealth care utilisation.Conclusions: Symptom reporting appears to be associated with across-modal deficit in attention rather than excessive body focus.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2013.03.017

4 - Assessing the traumatic load in the narratives of womensuffering fibromyalgia: When the researchers' perspective meetsthe women's perceptions☆C. Cedraschi a,b, E. Girard c, C. Luthy a, J. Desmeules b, A.F. Allaz a

a Division of General Medical Rehabilitation, Switzerland, b Division ofClinical Pharmacology and Toxicology, Multidisciplinary Pain Centre,Switzerland, c Division of Emergency and Liaison Psychiatry, GenevaUniversity Hospitals & University of Geneva, Switzerland

Objective: In patients with fibromyalgia (FM), pain is oftenassociated to emotional distress. While investigating patients'attributions of symptom onset, we assessed the researchers'appraisal of the traumatic load in the patients' narratives.Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 56women suffering FM participating in a neurophysiological study.The transcripts were submitted to content analysis, performed bythree researchers experienced in FM clinical management. Theyevaluated the intensity of the traumatic load suggested in thetranscripts, using a standard Clinical Global Impression scale. Foreach narrative, the researchers independently quoted their appraisalof the traumatic load on a 0–5 (5 =maximum) Likert-type scale;inter-rater agreement was high (K N .85).Results: Primary attributions fell into 5 categories: emotionalproblems (28 respondents); somatic concerns (N = 12); violence/abuse during childhood (N = 7), gynaecological problems (N = 6),and fatigue (N = 3), with a major emphasis on psychologicalattributions. Traumatic loads were appraised as present in allcategories. The mean traumatic load was 3.6 (SD ± 1) and themedian was 3.5, indicating perceptions of high traumatic loads in theresearchers. Twenty-three narratives (41%) were appraised ≥4(high-very high traumatic load), and only 3 (5%) were appraised≤2 (low-moderate traumatic load). These results paralleled theweight of psychological distress in the patients' attributions.Conclusions: These results raise the issue of clinicians having to dealwith chronic pain problems inserted in an emotionally demandingcontext, and with the patients' perceived experience. Practitioners'

awareness of their own perceptions of the patients' distress may helpthem better put up with these patients' traumatic perceptions.

☆ Supported by the Swiss National Research Foundation (SNF-NRP 4053-104645).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2013.03.018

5 - A brief psychological intervention for prevention of self-harm:RCT from PakistanI.B. Chaudhry a, N. Husain a, S. Afsar b, H. Fayyaz c, M. Husain d,M. Hamirani e, S. Ansari c, N. Chaudhry a

a University of Manchester, United Kingdom, b Dow University of HealthSciences, Karachi, Pakistan, c Pakistan Institute of Learning and Living,Karachi, Pakistan, d Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust, UnitedKingdom, e Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Pakistan

Background: Women of South Asian origin are at a high risk forsuicide. The main precipitating factors for self-harm by South Asianwomen are marital problems and interpersonal problems with familymembers. There are concerns about the current service provision andits appropriateness for this community due to the low numbers thatget involved with the services. Both problem solving and interper-sonal forms of psychotherapy are beneficial in the treatment ofpatients who self-harm and could be helpful in this ethnic group.Objective: To test a culturally Adapted Problem Solving Therapy(C_MAP) in Pakistani men and women who are admitted to medicalwards after self-harm.Methods: We have culturally-adapted and developed a manualisedbrief psychological intervention‚life after self-harm ‘using qualitativeresearch methods‚C-MAPS for British South Asian women who self-harm’. This involves eight sessions of problem-solving delivered overthree months. A multidisciplinary focus group of mental healthprofessionals initially translated the content of the manual into Urdu,giving special consideration to cultural adaptation of phrases andconcepts to reflect South Asian culture.Results: A total of 250 patients were screened and 221 wererandomised to the intervention and treatment as usual group. Therewas a significant improvement at three months on Becks suicidalideation, Becks Depression Scale and other measurements. Thisimprovement was maintained at six months (three months follow-ing intervention).Conclusions: The results of this pilot trial are highly positive andoverwhelmingly reassuring. Significant improvement in ALL clinicalassessment scales.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2013.03.019

6 - Somatisation and traumatic life events: The relevance ofdysfunction of autobiographical memoryA. Ciaramella a,b,c, P. Micco a, L. Brandolese b, M. Paroli a,c, S. Rossi a

a Gift Institute for Integrative Medicine, Pisa, Italy, b Degree course ofHealth Psychology, University of Pisa, Italy, c Pain Therapy Unit, AziendaOspedaliero Universitaria Pisana, Pisa, Italy

Introduction: Freud proposed that unwanted memories can beexcluded from awareness (repression-suppression). Think/no-thinkparadigm has been developed to study the suppression of unwantedmemories (Anderson & Green, 2001).Objectives: The present study is aimed at evaluating the function ofautobiographical memory in the correlation between trauma inchildhood and functional disorders in adulthood.Methods: 29 chronic pain patients (CPG) and 48 pain-free controlgroup (PFG) were investigated using Stressful Life Events Screening

Abstracts / Journal of Psychosomatic Research 74 (2013) 539–562540