Psychological symptoms and alexithymia in adolescents with inflammatory bowel diseases: a case-control study

Introduction Little is known about thepsychological correlates of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) in the pediatric population. We, therefore, conducted a case-control study systematically exploring psychopathological profiles and alexithymia in adolescents with IBDs. Methods We recruited 52 patients with IBDs (of whom 43 in clinical remission) and 52 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. All participants completed a validated psychometric battery assessing psychological symptoms Symptom Checklist-90-Revised and alexithymia Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20. Results Adolescents with IBDs reported significantly higher scores across all psychopathological domains compared to controls, with more pronounced differences in depression and obsessive-compulsive symptoms (both P < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in alexithymia scores between the two groups. Conclusion These findings underscore the psychological distress experienced by adolescents with IBDs, emphasizing the importance of early identification and intervention to prevent the development of fully fledged psychiatric disorders. Further research is needed to better characterize the psychopathological profiles of different clinical phenotypes of IBDs and to explore possible correlations with the clinical course of these chronic conditions.