A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF ALEXITHYMIA AND PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN INFLAMMATORY BOWEL-DISEASE

A group of 104 patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) was foll owed longitudinally for 6 months. While anxiety and depression scores were influenced over time by changes in the level of disease activity, there was no significant change in alexithymia scores. The findings s upport the contention that alexithymia is a stable personality charact eristic in some IBD patients, in contrast to anxiety and depression wh ich are state phenomena influenced by the level of disease activity. C opyright (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Inc.