Efficacy of Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Stress, Resilience and Coping Strategies in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients

Abstract

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is the most common gastrointestinal disorder that have considerable psychological features. Objectives: This research aimed to determine the efficacy of dialectical behavioral therapy on stress, resilience and coping strategies of IBS patients. Methods: The study was quasi-experimental that including two intervention and control groups. Fifty-two IBS patients who met this diagnosis- according the Rome III criteria- were selected and assigned to two experimental and control groups with 26 IBS patients in each group. The dialectical behavioral therapy-according to Moonshine s manual- was conducted in 8 weekly sessions in a gastroenterology clinic in Isfahan. The questionnaires of stress, resilience and coping strategies were completed as the pretest, post-test and follow-up. Data were analyzed with SPSS.20. Results: Results of multivariate analysis of variance showed that dialectical behavioral therapy had a significant effect in reduction of post-test mean scores of emotional coping strategies (P < 0. 05), and there was an acceptable effect size for all variables (except avoidance strategies). Conclusions: Dialectical behavioral therapy could be useful to improvement of psychological status of IBS patients, but it needs longer therapeutic period for more persistent effects.