A systematic review of the psychological correlates of adjustment outcomes in adults with inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic long term condition which poses significant psychosocial adjustment challenges. The purpose of this review was to systematically identify psychological factors related to adjustment in adults with IBD with the aim of suggesting evidence based targets that may be modifiable though psychological intervention. Twenty five studies met inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review and a narrative synthesis was conducted. A wide range of psychological variables were addressed covering six broad categories; personality traits, interpersonal traits, stress and coping, emotions and emotional control, IBD related cognitions and non IBD related cognitions. The most consistent relationship was found between certain emotion focused coping strategies and worse adjustment outcomes in IBD. Some evidence also hi-lighted a relationship between personality traits (such as neuroticism,) perceived stress, emotions and emotional control (such as alexithymia) and IBD related cognitions (such as illness perceptions) and negative adjustment outcomes. The results of this review suggest that interventions to improve adjustment in IBD may benefit from a focus on coping strategies, perceived stress and IBD related cognitions.

Coping strategies, alexithymia and anxiety in young patients with food allergy

“…Alexithymia has been associated with an expanding range of somatic pathologies such as inflammatory bowel disease, myocardial infarction, chronic respiratory diseases, dermatologic conditions, chronic pain, neuromuscular disorders, diabetes and food allergy (). It has been found to increase unhealthy behaviours and susceptibility to organic diseases notably immune‐mediated disorders via physiological, behavioural, cognitive or social pathways from childhood leading to adverse outcomes in adulthood .…”

“…Previous research on different chronic diseases highlighted the need to develop and test alexithymia interventions and examine their effects on important disease‐related variables (e.g. HRQL, symptoms) . A controlled study found a significant decrease in TAS scores among cardiac patients in psychological treatment but not in controls.…”

White Paper AGA: The Impact of Mental and Psychosocial Factors on the Care of Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

“…Patients with medically complex and chronic diseases often have comorbid mental health conditions and psychosocial challenges that, if adequately addressed, are associated with improved health outcomes. [5][6][7][8][9][10] Integrating psychosocial care into IBD practices represents an important step toward "whole-person" care. 11 For the purposes of this review, "psychosocial" is defined as psychological symptoms, illness perception, coping, health behaviors, environmental stress, and social/racial/ethnic factors that can impact disease.…”

Cognitive behaviour therapy for distress in people with inflammatory bowel disease: A benchmarking study

“…This reciprocal interaction is likely to be mediated by cognitive, behavioural, and emotional responses. Our findings suggest that by identifying and addressing unhelpful responses with cognitive behaviour therapy, both mood and reports of disease activity may improve (Jordan et al, 2016).…”