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Psychopathological Symptom Dimensions in Patients with Gastrointestinal Disorders

Journal of Clinical Psychology in Medical Settings volume 17, pages 378–386 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

The current study aims to investigate the factorial validity of a widely used psychopathological rating scale, the Symptom Check List-90-R (SCL-90-R), in a group of patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders, and to determine the specific psychopathological profiles that characterize the individual patient subgroups. Patients suffering from either irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis, non-erosive reflux disease or erosive reflux disease completed the SCL-90-R at a tertiary care gastroenterology department. Seven factors were identified, with one major distress factor and six minor factors. Comparison of the gastrointestinal disorder subgroups indicated that irritable bowel syndrome patients exhibited significantly more psychological distress compared to the other groups, and that gastrointestinal patients as a group, compared to healthy controls, were characterized by high levels of irritable depression and somatization. In planning further studies we encourage the use of factors identified in our study. The treatment of substantial irritable depression can be an important factor in improving quality of life in patients suffering from gastrointestinal disorders.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Semmelweis University, Balassa u.6, 1083, Budapest, Hungary

    Zoltán Kovács & Pál Czobor

  2. Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Gabriella Seres

  3. Department of Surgery, Jahn Ferenc Dél-Pesti Kórház, Budapest, Hungary

    Olga Kerékgyártó

Authors
  1. Zoltán Kovács
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  2. Gabriella Seres
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  3. Olga Kerékgyártó
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  4. Pál Czobor
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Correspondence to Zoltán Kovács.

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Kovács, Z., Seres, G., Kerékgyártó, O. et al. Psychopathological Symptom Dimensions in Patients with Gastrointestinal Disorders. J Clin Psychol Med Settings 17, 378–386 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-010-9212-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10880-010-9212-5

Keywords

  • Psychopathology
  • Factor analysis
  • Irritable mood
  • Gastrointestinal diseases
  • Functional gastrointestinal disorders