title: A longitudinal study of alexithymia and psychological distress in inflammatory bowel disease.
abstract: A group of 104 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was followed longitudinally for 6 months. While anxiety and depression scores were influenced over time by changes in the level of disease activity, there was no significant change in alexithymia scores. The findings support the contention that alexithymia is a stable personality characteristic in some IBD patients, in contrast to anxiety and depression which are state phenomena influenced by the level of disease activity.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Scientifico Gastroenterologico, Castellana Grotte, Italy.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Porcelli
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Leoci
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Bagby
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000150:complications*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000150:complications*; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015212:Inflammatory Bowel Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors