Comparison of Personality Characteristics of Individuals with Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Healthy Individuals

Resilience is decreased in irritable bowel syndrome and associated with symptoms and cortisol response

“…We planned the sample size for our study using estimates provided by Zarpour and Besharat in which IBS subjects (mean resilience of 90.61 and a standard deviation of 13.26) had lower mean resilience compared to HCs (mean resilience of 96.35 with a standard deviation of 16.94) using the CD‐RISC. Using G*Power 3.1.9.2 and a two‐sample t test based with an α error rate of 5%, a total of 176 subjects (88 IBS and 88 HC) were needed to detect decreased resilience (Effect Size: Cohen's d=0.377) in IBS subjects compared to HCs with 80% power.…”

“…In addition, studies have supported a dysregulated HPA axis in IBS even in the absence of EALs . There are some data in the current literature suggesting that resilience can affect the response to stress, and that resilience scores are associated with changes in brain regions involved in stress responsiveness; however, to our knowledge, this has not been examined in IBS in regards to symptom severity, quality of life, and physiologic markers of stress.…”

“…IBS is a gastrointestinal (GI) disorder characterized by abdominal pain and associated with alterations in stool form and/or frequency . Three studies measured resilience in IBS using a validated instrument, the Connor‐Davidson Resilience Scale (CD‐RISC) . Two of these studies were conducted in Iran and found that resilience scores were lower in IBS patients compared to healthy controls (HCs) .…”

“…Three studies measured resilience in IBS using a validated instrument, the Connor‐Davidson Resilience Scale (CD‐RISC) . Two of these studies were conducted in Iran and found that resilience scores were lower in IBS patients compared to healthy controls (HCs) . However, these studies did not appear to control for neuroticism, which has been shown to be a significant predictor of resilience .…”

“…A third study was conducted in Israel and included IBS patients diagnosed by a gastroenterologist without the use of symptom criteria. The authors found that lower resilience in IBS was associated with greater psychological distress and depressive symptoms . Thus, it is valuable to delineate an independent relationship between the resilience and IBS separate from neuroticism, negative emotionality, and psychological sensitivity to stress.…”