Open AccessProfile of depression in adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease: Implications for treatment
Author(s) -
Szigethy Eva,
Craig Anna E.,
Iobst Emily A.,
Grand Richard J.,
Keljo David,
DeMaso David,
Noll Robert
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
inflammatory bowel diseases
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.932
H-Index - 146
eISSN - 1536-4844
pISSN - 1078-0998
DOI - 10.1002/ibd.20693
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , disease , inflammatory bowel disease , medicine , generalizability theory , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , severity of illness , psychiatry , psychology , economics , macroeconomics , developmental psychology
Background: The purpose was to determine the utility of including neurovegetative symptoms in assessments of depression in youth with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Methods: Forty‐one youth with IBD and concurrent depressive symptomatology were enrolled in an intervention trial and received either 9 modules of cognitive‐behavioral therapy (PASCET‐PI) or treatment as usual (TAU). Youth and their primary caregivers completed the Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) at pre‐ (T1) and posttreatment (T2). Disease severity measures and current steroid dosage were obtained at each timepoint. Change in the individual items of the CDI was compared across groups and examined in association with change in physical illness course. Results: Paired sample t ‐tests revealed significant changes in CDI item scores from T1 to T2 for a majority of the depressive symptoms assessed in the PASCET‐PI group, but not for the TAU group. These changes did not appear to be linked to changes in disease severity and/or steroid dosage across these same timepoints. Conclusions: The inclusion of somatic items in the assessment of depression in physically ill youth is important, as these symptoms seem to respond to psychotherapeutic intervention. The present results would suggest that improvements in depressive symptomatology are not solely related to improvements in the course of IBD and that these items do reflect an important part of the profile of depressive symptoms in youth with IBD. Future research is warranted to replicate present findings and explore the generalizability of these results to other pediatric illness populations. (Inflamm Bowel Dis 2008)