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. 2021 Sep 23;5(2):79-85.
doi: 10.1093/jcag/gwab036. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Understanding Perceived Stress in Adolescent Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Adam Sunavsky  1 , Julia Moreau  1 , Dean A Tripp  2
Affiliations

Understanding Perceived Stress in Adolescent Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Adam Sunavsky et al. J Can Assoc Gastroenterol. .

Abstract

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a chronic and debilitating illness associated with psychosocial comorbidities. Adolescents are vulnerable to the additive stress of managing IBD and navigating developmental milestones. Psychosocial factors, such as catastrophizing, illness stigma, illness uncertainty, and illness-related shame, often contribute to perceived stress in chronic illnesses. However, the combination of these variables on perceived stress in adolescents with IBD has not been examined.

Methods: Participants completed a cross-sectional online self-report survey. Model 4 of PROCESS Macro in SPSS was used to test the parallel mediation model of the relationship between disease severity and perceived stress using catastrophizing, stigma, uncertainty, and shame as mediators using 10,000 bootstrap samples. T-tests were run to assess systematic differences in the dependent variable between subjects.

Results: One hundred and thirty-one adolescents (Mage = 18.95 years; 100 females) completed the survey. Females had higher stress scores than males (P =0.002), and there were no difference in stress between younger and older participants (P = 0.085), location (P = 0.484), or IBD type (P = 0.515). The total effect of disease stress on perceived stress operating through the mediators was significant, b = 0.168, SE = 0.028, 95% CI [0.112, 0.224]. Helplessness catastrophizing, illness uncertainty, and illness-related shame, but not illness stigma, were equally strong, positive mediators.

Conclusions: The present results suggest that helplessness catastrophizing, illness uncertainty, and illness-related shame are central elements to target in stress interventions for adolescents with IBD.

Keywords: Adolescents; Inflammatory Bowel Disease; Mediation; Perceived stress; Psychosocial.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The completed mediation model. Note. Solid lines represent significant effects, dotted lines represent nonsignificant effects; red represents indirect effects, and yellow represents direct effects.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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