The role of emotional patterns in predicting irritable bowel syndrome mediated by anxiety sensitivity

Irritable bowel syndrome is a functional disorder of the gastrointestinal tract in which psychological factors play an important role in its occurrence and persistence. In this way, current study investigates the role of emotional patterns in predicting irritable bowel syndrome mediated by anxiety sensitivity. The present study is descriptive and correlation. The sample of the present study was 292 high school students in Osko city (147 boys and 145 girls) in the age range of 16 to 19 years. These individuals were selected by cluster sampling method and completed Irritable Bowel Syndrome (EISSS) Questionnaire, Positive and Negative Emotion Scale (PANAS) and Revised Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI-R). To analyze data and examine the relationships between variables, Structural equation modeling based on Amos software version 21 was used. The results showed that negative emotional patterns directly and mediated by anxiety sensitivity have a positive and significant relationship with irritable bowel syndrome and positive emotional patterns have a direct negative and significant relationship with irritable bowel syndrome. In general, emotional patterns mediate anxiety sensitivity and have a significant effect on irritable bowel syndrome. According to the evidence obtained on the role of psychological factors in the formation, Initiation and aggravation or reduction of symptoms, it seems that no treatment strategy for IBS patients can be successful without considering the role of psychological factors.