The effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on psychological distress and self-efficacy in patients with irritable bowel syndrome

 It is necessary to help people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) to solve the problems related to this disease through recognizing the factors affecting psychological distress and self-efficacy in these individuals. The goal of this study was to see how effective cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is in reducing psychological distress and increasing self-efficacy in patients with IBS.

 The current research was a semi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design, follow-up, and a control group. Patients with IBS who were referred to medical centers in Babol, Iran, in 2019 made up the statistical population of this study; 30 individuals were chosen through convenience sampling based on the study inclusion and exclusion criteria and were assigned to the experimental or control group (15 individuals in each group). A demographic questionnaire, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) ‎(Kessler et al., 2002), and ‎the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) ‎were used to collect data. At a significance level of 0.05, the data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the Bonferroni test in SPSS software.

 In individuals with IBS, CBT was found to be beneficial in reducing psychological distress (P < 0.001) and increasing self-efficacy (P < 0.001). The favorable effect of CBT on psychological distress (P = 0.105) and self-efficacy (P = 0.925) persisted at the follow-up stage.

 Given the beneficial effects of CBT on psychological distress and self-efficacy in patients with IBS, it is suggested that this training method be used in the planning of mental health measures, particularly for patients with IBS.