Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Review of the Psychological Assessment And Treatment Literature

After a brief overview of the clinical presentation and epidemiology of the two major inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn's disease (CD), we have reviewed the literature concerned with the psychological assessment of UC and CD patients. There are trends for patients with CD to show more disturbance than those with UC. However, neither group shows marked psychopathology. We also examined the literature connecting psychological stress with IBD. Finally, we reviewed the psychological treatment literature, both the uncontrolled and the controlled studies, concluding with a summary of our own recent research treating IBD patients with a multi-component stress management program. Although some positive findings have emerged, a strong case for psychological treatment of IBD is not yet warranted.