Skip to main content
Log in

The relation between daily stress and Crohn's disease

  • Published:
Journal of Behavioral Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This study examined the effect of minor daily stressors on the primary indices of Crohn's disease in 10 adult volunteers from a support group for individuals with inflammatory bowel disease. All subjects monitored the occurrence of daily stress concurrently with the signs and symptoms of their disease for 28 days. The results of the regression and between-subject analyses indicate a relation between daily stress and self-rated disease severity in Crohn's disease. The effects of daily stress on signs and symptoms of Crohn's disease were significant even after controlling for the effects of major life events. Individual within-subject correlations, however, indicated that stress and indicators of disease were highly related for only three subjects. The results of the current study therefore suggest that at least for some individuals with Crohn's disease, daily stress is related to self-reported indicators of the illness.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Best, W. R., Becktel, J. M., Singleton, J. W., and Kern, F. (1976). Development of a Crohn's disease activity index.Gastroenterology 70: 439–444.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brantley, P. J., and Jones, G. N. (1989).The Daily Stress Inventory: Professional Manual, Psychological Assessment Resources, Odessa, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brantley, P. J., Waggoner, C. D., Jones, G. N., and Rappaport, N. B. (1987). A daily stress inventory: Development, reliability, and validity.J. Behav. Med. 10: 61–74.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brantley, P. J., Cocke, T. B., Jones, G. N., and Goreczny, A. J. (1988a). The Daily Stress Inventory: Validity and effect of repeated administration.J. Psychopathol. Behav. Assess. 10: 75–81.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brantley, P. J., Dietz, L. S., McKnight, G. T., Jones, G. N., and Tulley, R. (1988b). Convergence between the Daily Stress Inventory and endocrine measures of stress.J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 56: 549–551.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caspi, A., Bolger, N., and Eckenrode, J. (1987). Linking person and context in the daily stress process.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 52: 184–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, J., and Cohen, P. (1983).Applied Multiple Regression/Correlation Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed., Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohn, E. M., Lederman, I. I., and Shore, E. (1970). Regional enteritis and its relation to emotional disorders.Am. J. Gastro. 54: 378–387.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crocket, R. (1952). Psychiatric findings in Crohn's disease.Lancet 1: 946–949.

    Google Scholar 

  • DeLongis, A., Coyne, J. C., Dakof, G., Folkman, S., and Lazarus, R. S. (1982). Relationship of daily hassles, uplifts, and major life events to health status.Health Psychol. 1: 119–136.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ford, C., Glober, G., and Castelnuovo-Tedesco, P. (1969). A psychiatric study of patients with regional enteritis.JAMA 208: 311–315.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goldberg, D. (1970). A psychiatric study of patients with diseases of the small intestine.Gut 11: 459–465.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greene, B., Blanchard, E. B., and Suls, J. (1989). Long term monitoring of psychosocial stress and inflammatory bowel disease symptoms in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Poster presented at the 23rd annual meeting of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy, Washington, DC.

  • Helzer, J. E., Chammas, S., Norland, C. C., Stillings, W. A., and Alpers, D. H. (1984). A study of the association between Crohn's disease and psychiatric illness.Gastroenterology 86: 324–336.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korelitz, B. I. (1982). Epidemiological and psychosocial aspects of inflammatory bowel disease with observations on children, families, and pregnancy.Am. J. Gastro. 77: 929–933.

    Google Scholar 

  • McKegney, F. P., Gordon, R. O., and Levine, S. M. (1970). A psychosomatic comparison of patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.Psychosom. Med. 32: 153–160.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parfitt, H. L. (1967). Psychiatric aspects of regional enteritis.Can. Med. Assoc. J. 97: 807.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sperling, M. (1960). The psycho-analytic treatment of a case of chronic regional ileitis.Int. J. Psychoanal. 41: 612.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitehead, W. E., and Schuster, M. M. (1985).Gastrointestinal Disorders: Behavioral and Physiological Basis for Treatment, Academic Press, Orlando, FL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whybrow, P. C., Kane, F. J., and Lipton, M. A. (1968). Regional ileitis and psychiatric disorder.Psychosom. Med. 30: 209–221.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winship, D. H., Summers, R. W., Singleton, J. W., Best, W. R., Becktel, J. M., Lenk, L. F., and Kern, F., Jr. (1979). National Cooperative Crohn's Disease Study: Study design and conduct of the study.Gastroenterology 77: 829–842.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Garrett, V.D., Brantley, P.J., Jones, G.N. et al. The relation between daily stress and Crohn's disease. J Behav Med 14, 87–96 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844770

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00844770

Key words

Navigation