Study of personality and anxiety in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the presence of common personality traits and anxiety states in children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Patients and Method: Longitudinal, prospective, and analytical study by applying the questionnaires Children’s Personality Questionnaire, High School Personality Questionnaire, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children, and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for patients with IBD aged between 9 and 18 years seen at reference IBD units in Aragon, Spain. The participants excluded were those with active disease, defined as a score ≥ 10 on the Pediatric Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (PCDAI Score) or ≥ 10 on the Pediatric Ulcerative Colitis Activity Index (PUCAI Score).

Results: Twenty-six patients participated (73% male). 61.5% presented Crohn’s disease (CD) and 38.5% ulcerative colitis (UC). No patient presented active disease. The personality profile as a group was characterized by being open, emotionally stable, calm, sober, sensible, enterprising, impressionable, dependent, serene, perfectionist, and relaxed. 50% of the CD patients were enterprising versus no UC patients (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences when comparing the remaining personality factors based on IBD type, age, or sex. Patients with CD tended to be calmer (p = 0.0511) and patients with UC more introverted (p = 0.0549). The sample presented a state anxiety level (A/E) -1.1 ± 0.8 SD compared with the population average. The level of anxiety as a feature (A/R) was -0.6 ± 1 SD. Males had significantly lower levels than females in the case of A/E (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: The presence of common personality traits in the pediatric population with IBD stands out but there was no greater anxiety than in the reference population.