Abstract
Patients with Crohn’s disease, an inflammatory bowel disease, struggle with chronic somatic symptoms that could bring about emotional distress. This study assessed the relative role of somatization, and depressive and anxiety symptoms in disease activity among 619 Crohn’s patients (18–79 years; 58.3% women). Structural equation modeling revealed that somatization was the only unique predictor of disease activity beyond depression and anxiety. In addition, the effect of somatization on disease activity was stronger in men compared to women. Findings suggest that somatization represents a distinct domain of psychological distress that may play a role in the health of patients with Crohn’s disease.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2390-2401 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Journal of Health Psychology |
Volume | 26 |
Issue number | 13 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 1 Nov 2021 |
Keywords
- chronic illness
- distress
- gender
- inflammatory bowel diseases
- somatization
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Applied Psychology