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Is the association between irritable bowel syndrome and abuse explained by neuroticism? A population based study
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Background —In outpatients and the community, an association between abuse (particularly sexual abuse) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) has been observed, but whether there is a causal link continues to be disputed. Aims —To test the hypothesis that psychological factors explain the apparent association between abuse and IBS. Methods —A sample of residents of Penrith (a Sydney suburb sociodemographically similar to the Australian population) selected randomly from the electoral rolls (that by law include the entire population of age 18 years and above) was mailed a validated self report questionnaire. Measured were gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms including the Rome criteria for IBS, abuse (including the standardised Drossman questions), neuroticism (Eysenck Personality Questionnaire), and psychological morbidity (General Health Questionnaire). Results —The response rate was 64% (n=730); 12% fulfilled the Rome criteria for IBS. Overall abuse in childhood (odds ratio (OR)=2.02, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29 to 3.15) but not adulthood (OR=1.39, 95% CI 0.88 to 2.19) was associazted with IBS univariately. Neuroticism and psychological morbidity were also univariately associated with abuse in childhood, abuse in adulthood, and IBS, respectively. However, by logistic regression, abuse in childhood was not associated with IBS after controlling for age, gender, and psychological factors (OR=1.34, 95% CI 0.83 to 2.17). The results were not altered by restricting the analyses to more severe forms of abuse, and were not explained by interactions between abuse and psychological variables. Conclusion —There is an association between abuse and IBS in the community, but this may be explained in part by other psychological factors. Based on a path analysis, we postulate that abuse may induce the expression of neuroticism that in turn leads to IBS.
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“In contrast, more recent population studies (42–45) have suggested that the earlier volunteer non-population-based studies may have been biased, but this view is still controversial (16).”
From Psychosocial Distress and Somatic Symptoms in Community Subjects With Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Psychological Component Is the Rule (2009) · cites this paper as [44]
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“Supporting this, Talley et al. [16] found that when controlling for neuroticism and psychological comorbidity, the associations between childhood or adult abuse and IBS were no longer significant.”
Metadata
- Authors
- Talley, N. J., Boyce, P. M., & Jones, M.
- Affiliations
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- Corresponding author
- Talley, N J
- ORCID
- Venue
- Gut
- Publisher
- BMJ
- Published
- 1998-01-01
- Volume
- 42
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 47-53
- ISSN
- 0017-5749 (ISSN-L)
- 1468-3288
- PMC
- PMC1726948
- OpenAlex
- W2152492482
- Cited by
- 154
- References
- 37
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 2 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 3 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 9 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 9.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Gut (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- HighWire Press Open Archive (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- University of Sydney
- Medical Research Council
- National Health and Medical Research Council
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Gastroenterology › Gastrointestinal motility and disorders
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Keywords
- irritable bowel syndrome, childhood abuse, adult abuse, neuroticism, psychological morbidity, sexual abuse, gastrointestinal symptoms, Rome criteria, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire, General Health Questionnaire, path analysis
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Child, Child Abuse, Child Abuse, Sexual, Colonic Diseases, Functional, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Neurotic Disorders, Personality Disorders, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Surveys and Questionnaires, Violence, Logistic Models
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