Cp. Dancey et al., THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HASSLES, UPLIFTS AND IRRITABLE-BOWEL-SYNDROME - A PRELIMINARY-STUDY, Journal of psychosomatic research, 39(7), 1995, pp. 827-832
In a preliminary study, 30 sufferers of irritable bowel syndrome fille
d in daily symptom sheets and the combined Hassles and Uplifts questio
nnaire for five weeks. Initially, analyses were carried out for each s
ymptom separately. Results showed that ratings on the hassles and symp
toms questionnaires completed in the same week were more highly associ
ated than ratings for hassles and symptoms in different weeks. No One
symptom in any week was significantly associated with the following we
ek's hassles. Similarly, hassles in any one week were not associated w
ith the following week's symptoms. However, total symptoms were found
to be significantly associated with hassles in the following weeks, wh
ereas the association between hassles and total symptoms in the follow
ing weeks was not significant. The study suggests that there is a cumu
lative effect of symptoms such that an increase in the severity of the
combined effect of symptoms is associated with an increase in severit
y of stress in the next week. Increased hassles do not appear to exace
rbate symptoms. There was no evidence of an association between uplift
s and IB symptoms.