Abstract Objectives Pediatric patients with chronic gastrointestinal (GI) conditions including inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) on average endorse lower health related quality of life (HRQOL) than their healthy counterparts. Both diagnoses are conceptualized as products of the brain‐gut‐axis and impacted by stress responsivity and disease coping. This study examined the effect of a virtual, heart rate variability (HRV) biofeedback enhanced coping skills intervention on HRQOL in pediatric patients with IBD and IBS. Methods Patients (13–18 years) diagnosed with IBD ( N = 51) and IBS ( N = 21) were grouped by diagnosis and randomized to immediate treatment or waitlist control groups. The intervention consisted of 6 virtually delivered, weekly group sessions combining cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with HRV biofeedback training. Outcomes included youth and parent‐rated measures of HRQOL and GI symptoms. Assessments were conducted at baseline and post‐intervention. Results Postintervention and compared to controls, youth with IBD endorsed improved overall HRQOL as well as improvements in physical, emotional, school, and psychosocial subdomains. No significant changes emerged for youth with IBS postintervention compared to controls. Within the treatment condition, parents of youth with IBD reported improved emotional HRQOL, while parents of youth with IBS reported improved physical and overall HRQOL. Conclusions This study offers preliminary support for a biofeedback‐enhanced, coping skill intervention for improving patient‐reported HRQOL outcomes in youth with IBD. Future studies are needed to understand mechanisms of change for patients with IBD and how the intervention could be tailored to better address HRQOL in patients with IBS.
Younginer et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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