Abstract

Resilience is decreased in irritable bowel syndrome and associated with symptoms and cortisol response

Park SH1, Naliboff BD1, Shih W1,2, Presson AP3, Videlock EJ1, Ju T1, Kilpatrick L1, Gupta A1, Mayer EA1, Chang L1. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2017 Jul 18. doi: 10.1111/nmo.13155. [Epub ahead of print]
 
     
Author information

1 G. Oppenheimer Center for Neurobiology of Stress and Resilience, Vatche and Tamar Manoukian Division of Digestive Diseases, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 2 Department of Biostatistics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA. 3 Division of Epidemiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a stress-sensitive disorder associated with early adverse life events (EALs) and a dysregulated hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Resilience is the ability to recover and adapt positively to stress but has not been well studied in IBS. The aims of this study are to compare resilience in IBS and healthy controls (HCs) and to assess its relationships with IBS symptom severity, quality of life (QOL), EALs, and HPA axis response.

METHODS: Two hundred fifty-six subjects (154 IBS, 102 HCs) completed questionnaires for resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale [CD-RISC] and Brief Resilience Scale [BRS]), IBS symptoms, IBS-QOL, and EALs. Ninety-six of these subjects had serial serum adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and cortisol levels to exogenous corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) and ACTH measured. The relationship between IBS status, resilience, and other variables of interest was assessed by regression analysis after adjusting for demographics and neuroticism, a predictor of resilience.

KEY RESULTS: Resilience was significantly lower in IBS compared to HCs (CD-RISC: 72.16±14.97 vs 77.32±12.73, P=.003; BRS: 3.29±0.87 vs 3.93±0.69, P<.001); however, only BRS was significant after controlling for neuroticism (P=.001). Lower BRS scores were associated with greater IBS symptom severity (P=.002), poorer IBS-QOL (P<.001), and a higher number of EALs (P=.01). There was a significant interaction between BRS resilience and IBS status for ACTH-stimulated cortisol response (P=.031); more resilient IBS subjects had lower cortisol response, and more resilient HCs had higher cortisol response.

CONCLUSIONS AND INFERENCES: Lower resilience is associated with IBS status, worse IBS symptom severity, lower IBS-QOL, greater EALs, and stress hyperresponsiveness.

© Copyright 2013-2024 GI Health Foundation. All rights reserved.
This site is maintained as an educational resource for US healthcare providers only. Use of this website is governed by the GIHF terms of use and privacy statement.