Application of the common sense model in inflammatory bowel disease: A systematic review

Exploring pain perception and depression in vulvodynia: the role of catastrophizing and pain acceptance

BACKGROUND

In the context of vulvodynia, a gynecological disorder characterized by chronic vulvar pain affecting an estimated 10% of women, with significant impacts on sexual health, mental well-being, and productivity, the Common-Sense Model of Illness Self-Regulation, a well-established framework for understanding the impact of illness perceptions and coping strategies on mental health, has not yet been empirically tested.

AIM

We aimed to explore whether illness perceptions and pain-specific coping strategies-namely, pain catastrophizing and chronic pain acceptance-influence the relationship between vulvar pain severity and depression in women with vulvodynia.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted on a total of 119 women with reporting diagnosis of vulvodynia.

OUTCOMES

Through an online questionnaire, we assessed demographic and clinical characteristics, vulvar pain severity, illness beliefs, pain catastrophizing, pain acceptance, and depressive symptoms.

RESULTS

The path analysis showed that vulvar pain positively influences directly illness perceptions (β = .56, P < .001) and depressive symptoms (β = .24, P < .001). Negative perceptions of the illness were significantly associated with increased pain catastrophizing (β = .66, P < .001), and decreased pain acceptance (β = -.59, P < .001), resulting in heightened depressive symptoms (β = .33, P < .001, β = -.27, P < .001, respectively).

CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS

Interventions that challenge negative illness perceptions and promote more positive views could reduce maladaptive coping strategies, enhance pain acceptance, and ultimately diminish psychological distress.

STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

This study's strengths lie in its foundation on a theoretical, well-established model and the use of validated measures. However, the cross-sectional design precludes concluding causality between predictor and outcome variables, and the clinical information was self-reported and could not be verified with medical records.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings underscore the importance of targeting illness perceptions and coping strategies in shaping psychological outcomes for women with vulvodynia.

Understanding the psychological factors linking pelvic pain and health-related quality of life in endometriosis: the influence of illness representations and coping strategies

BACKGROUND

Endometriosis is a prevalent chronic gynecological condition characterized by severe pelvic pain, negatively affecting women's health-related quality of life. The Common-Sense Model of Illness Self-regulation has revealed the importance of illness perceptions and coping strategies in explaining the impact of illness on across several conditions. These aspects have never been assessed in endometriosis.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to explore the relationship between pelvic pain severity and health-related quality of life in women with endometriosis, hypothesizing that illness representations and pain-specific cognitive and behavioral maladaptive coping strategies influence this relationship.

STUDY DESIGN

This cross-sectional study analyzed data from 273 women with endometriosis who completed an online questionnaire assessing pelvic pain severity, illness perceptions, specific pain-related coping strategies, and health-related quality of life. A path analysis through MPlus was conducted to examine the direct and indirect relationships between variables.

RESULTS

The analysis showed that pelvic pain severity directly influenced illness representations and health-related quality of life. Threat illness perceptions, characterized by negative views of endometriosis, were associated with maladaptive coping strategies (ie, catastrophizing and illness-focused coping). These strategies further mediated the impact of illness perceptions on health-related quality of life, resulting in reduced health-related quality of life.

CONCLUSION

The findings support the Common-sense model of Illness Self-Regulation framework, suggesting the role of illness representations and coping strategies in the association between pelvic pain severity and health-related quality of life in women with endometriosis. Clinicians are encouraged to assess and address negative illness representations and maladaptive coping strategies in this population. Future research should focus on experimental interventions aimed at modifying illness perceptions and evaluating their effects on health outcomes.

Moving Towards Acceptance and Values: A Qualitative Study of ACTforIBD Compared to IBD Psychoeducation

The current study explored perspectives of those with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and comorbid anxiety and/or depression on a hybrid acceptance and committment therapy (ACT) intervention, compared to an active control. This qualitative study was nested within a randomized controlled trial (RCT) where an experimental group received an 8-week blended delivery ACTforIBD intervention (four sessions telehealth, four sessions pre-recorded self-directed), while an active control group received a psychoeducation program of similar intensity. Semi-structured interviews were conducted post-intervention and at a 3-month follow-up. Themes were interpreted using reflexive thematic analysis. Twenty individuals participated; ten in each condition. Seven themes were constructed, including three shared themes between groups: I Am Worth Advocating For, Present Moment Is My Biggest Ally, and Ambivalence About Self-Directed Modules. Two themes were identified for the ACTforIBD group: Symptoms Are Going to Happen and Moving Toward Values while two themes identified from the ActiveControl group were: Reset and Refresh and It's Ok to Say No. Acceptance and values modules from ACTforIBD were perceived as useful in reducing psychological distress for those with IBD, while the ActiveControl group felt their program affirmed existing effective coping strategies. Access to external resources for self-directed modules and networking may increase engagement with content long term.

Exploring the Impact of Covid-19-Related Perceptions on Psychological Distress and Quality of Life in an International Gastrointestinal Cohort Over Time Guided by the Common Sense Model

The aim of this longitudinal study was to examine changes in COVID-19 and illness-related perceptions, gastrointestinal symptoms, coping, catastrophising, psychological distress, and QoL during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 831 adults with a gastrointestinal condition completed an online questionnaire at baseline (May-October 2020). Of those, 270 (32.5%) participants (85.2% female, mean age = 47.3 years) provided follow-up data (March-May 2021). Repeated-measures multiple analysis of variance and a cross-lagged panel model were used to test the study hypotheses. Gastrointestinal symptoms and COVID-19 perceptions at follow-up were strongly predicted by their baseline values, while illness perceptions were predicted by baseline gastrointestinal symptoms. Cross-lagged relationships indicated a reciprocal relationship between gastrointestinal symptoms and psychological distress. Moreover, gastrointestinal symptoms had substantial predictive utility, strongly predicting future gastrointestinal symptoms, and to a lesser extent, more negative illness perceptions, greater psychological distress, and greater use of adaptive coping strategies across time.

Torn between two lovers - on being a psychologist in a university medical centre

Background

Psychology as applied to health and illness has a relatively short history. Nevertheless, that history shows a rapid development of the theoretical models that guide the field over the past 60 years. Core theoretical approaches are concisely reviewed, in the context of Kaplan's paper 'Behavior as the central outcome in health care' (1990), which is used as a model to examine the extent to which these approaches embrace Kaplan's notions.

Advances

Empirical studies from the health psychology domain are used, which demonstrate the gains in terms of quality of life and behavioural outcomes in patients with (chronic) somatic diseases. Over a period of some 60 years, theoretical models and core concepts in psychology as applied to health and illness have evolved from psychosomatic views to neuropsychology, quality of life, patient education, self-management, illness perceptions, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), shared decision-making (SDM) and health humanities (HH). The more recent models (SDM, HH) appear to align to a considerable degree with adopting 'behavior as the central outcome an outcome in health care'; shared decision-making and health humanities focus on encouraging patients to make sense of and give meaning to their illness in order to attain optimal psychosocial adjustment.

Conclusions

In addition to 'behavior as the central outcome in health care', a new definition of the concept of health (i.e. 'the ability to adapt and to self-manage' - Huber et al., 2011) seems to favour patients, healthcare providers, society, and health psychology. Incorporating this concept into medical care may be viewed as a challenge for health psychologists - and as a source of continual struggle with strong biomedical forces.

A Phenomenological Investigation of Trauma in 18 Adults Living With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

While trauma is recognized as being common in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) cohorts, limited research has explored how trauma impacts the lived experience of IBD. The aim of this study was to develop an understanding of how trauma impacts the experience of living with IBD and its subsequent management. An interpretative phenomenological analysis with thematic analysis was conducted. Eighteen adults with IBD participated in this qualitative research study. Key themes identified included: (1) Trauma was associated with the journey of IBD; (2) the impact of IBD and trauma, and (3) coping strategies. Pre-existing non-IBD trauma was prevalent, with several participants reporting links between traumatic events and their IBD diagnosis. Experiences of IBD trauma were described by participants across all stages of their illness journey. The study can assist healthcare professionals to better understand the experience of living with IBD and trauma and the factors that can contribute to traumatic responses.

Children's falls inside the inpatient setting: A qualitative study of parent perceptions and the implications for falls prevention messaging

PURPOSE

To explore how parents understand their children's falls during hospitalization and how they perceive hospital interventions and messaging related to fall risk and prevention.

DESIGN AND METHODS

Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore parent-caregiver descriptions of their children's falls during hospitalization. Prospective purposive sampling was used to identify eligible participants. Interviews were conducted with the parent-caregiver who was present at the time of the fall event. Themes were coded both inductively and deductively using a constant comparative method.

RESULTS

Twelve parent-child groupings participated. Three themes emerged: parental knowledge of risk, parent sense of threat to the identity of the child, and age differences in perception of level of controllability of risk.

CONCLUSIONS

Falls prevention education is usually delivered as a straightforward presentation of generic factual information about risk factors, with the assumption that families need more information. Findings from this study challenge this approach. This study indicates that parent-caregivers have fairly high levels of knowledge about children's fall risks; parent-caregiver beliefs about the controllability of falls may differ based on age of the child; finally, as has been found in previous studies of adult falls, parent-caregivers may perceive hospital falls prevention measures as a source of potential threat to their child''s already vulnerable social identity.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Involving the parent-caregiver in the fall risk assessment and collaborative development of falls prevention interventions may increase family alliance with health advice and reduce the incidence of falls in hospitalized children.

Extending the Common Sense Model to Explore the Impact of the Fear of COVID-19 on Quality of Life in an International Inflammatory Bowel Disease Cohort

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to use an extended common sense model (CSM) to evaluate the impact of fear of COVID-19 on quality of life (QoL) in an international inflammatory bowel disease cohort. An online study involving 319 adults (75% female, mean (SD) 14.06 (15.57) years of symptoms) completed the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale, Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire, Fear of Contracting COVID-19 Scale, Brief-COPE, Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale, and the EUROHIS-QOL. The extended CSM had an excellent fit (χ2 (9) = 17.06, p = .05, χ2/N = 1.90, RMSEA = 0.05, SRMR = 0.04, CFI = .99, TLI = .97, GFI = 0.99), indicating the influence of gastrointestinal symptoms on QoL was mediated by illness perceptions, fear of COVID-19, adaptive and maladaptive coping, and psychological distress. Interventions targeting the fear of COVID-19 in the context of an individual's perceptions will likely enhance QoL during the pandemic.

Longitudinal assessment of the common sense model before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A large coeliac disease cohort study

OBJECTIVE

Psychosocial factors likely play a substantial role in the well-being of those living with coeliac disease, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, however, little research has examined well-being in this cohort using an integrated socio-cognitive model. This study had two aims: (1) Examine changes in gastrointestinal symptoms, psychosocial factors, and well-being outcomes (i.e., psychological distress, quality of life [QoL]) associated with the pandemic, (2) Examine the interrelationship of these variables across timepoints using the Common Sense Model (CSM).

METHODS

1697 adults with coeliac disease (Time 1, pre-pandemic; 83.1% female, mean age = 55.8, SD = 15.0 years) and 674 follow-up participants (Time 2, pandemic; 82.8% female, mean age = 57.0, SD = 14.4 years) completed an online questionnaire. Hypotheses were tested using repeated measures MANOVA and cross-lagged panel model analyses.

RESULTS

Participants reported improved QoL, and reduced gastrointestinal symptoms, negative illness perceptions and maladaptive coping from pre-pandemic to during the pandemic. There was no significant change in pain catastrophising or psychological distress. Cross-lagged effects showed gastrointestinal symptoms to predict negative illness perceptions, which in turn were predictive of poorer outcomes across all variables except pain catastrophising. Consistent with the CSM, there was a reciprocal relationship between illness perceptions and QoL over time. Maladaptive coping and pain catastrophising demonstrated limited predictive utility.

CONCLUSION

The COVID-19 pandemic appears to have had a small beneficial effect across several indices of well-being among adults with coeliac disease. Cross-lagged relationships highlight illness perceptions as a predictor of well-being outcomes and a potential target for psychosocial interventions.

Mindfulness based cognitive therapy for youth with inflammatory bowel disease and depression - Findings from a pilot randomised controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is a promising adjunctive treatment for adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and comorbid depression.

OBJECTIVES

This pilot randomised controlled trial (RCT) aimed to evaluate feasibility and efficacy of an adapted MBCT program for AYA, aged 16-29, with IBD.

METHODS

Sixty-four AYAs were randomly allocated to MBCT (n = 33) or treatment as usual (TAU) (n = 31). Primary outcome measure was the depression score on Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale. Secondary outcomes included anxiety, stress, IBD-related quality of life, coping, mindfulness, post-traumatic growth, medication adherence, IBD activity, inflammatory markers, microbiome characteristics and brain functional connectivity.

RESULTS

Study recruitment rate was 75%, retention rate 70%, and session attendance 92%. Intention to treat analyses revealed that, compared to TAU group, MBCT group had significantly lower depression (∆ = -6.0; 95%CI = -10.8 to -1.2; P = 0.015) and stress (∆ = -5.1; 95%CI = -10.1 to -0.0; P = 0.049), higher active coping (∆ = 1.0;95%CI = 0.1-1.9; P = 0.022), and total mindfulness scores (∆ = 10.9;95%CI = 1.1-20.8; P = 0.030) at 8 weeks (post-therapy), and improved coping by positive reframing (∆ = 1.1;95%CI = 0.0-2.2; P = 0.043) and planning (∆ = 0.9;95%CI = 0.0-1.9; P = 0.045), mindful awareness (∆ = 5.2.;95%CI = 2.0-8.5; P = 0.002) and total mindfulness scores (∆ = 10.8.;95%CI = 0.4-21.1; P = 0.042) at 20 weeks. On per protocol analysis, MBCT group had significantly lower depression (∆ = -6.3; 95%CI = -11.4 to -1.2; P = 0.015), stress (∆ = -6.0; 95%CI = -11.2 to -0.5; P = 0.032), increased active coping (∆ = 0.9;95%CI = 0-1.7; P = 0.05) at 8 weeks, and mindful awareness (∆ = 5.4; 95%CI = 2.1-8.6; P = 0.001) at 20 weeks.

CONCLUSION

In AYAs with IBD, MBCT is feasible and beneficial in improving depression, stress, mindfulness and adaptive coping. It holds promise as an important component of integrated IBD care. Trial registration number ACTRN12617000876392, U1111-1197-7370; Pre-results.