Therapeutic mechanisms of a mindfulness-based treatment for IBS: effects on visceral sensitivity, catastrophizing, and affective processing of pain sensations.
Study Goal
The researchers aimed to determine whether mindfulness training (MT) could improve IBS symptoms by targeting affective pain processing and catastrophic appraisals of gastrointestinal sensations.
Results Summary
MT significantly improved IBS symptoms by reducing gut-focused anxiety and catastrophic appraisals of abdominal sensations while enhancing nonreactive awareness of interoceptive data with less emotional interference. The study suggests MT effectively targets underlying pathogenic mechanisms of IBS.
Population
75 female IBS patients
Effective Dosage
Not specified
Duration
8 weeks
Interactions
None mentioned
| Intervention | Direction | Endpoint | Population | Dosage | Impact | Claim # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
mindfulness training (MT) | decrease | IBS symptoms | female IBS patients | - | exerts significant therapeutic effects | #1 |
mindfulness training (MT) | decrease | gut-focused anxiety | female IBS patients | - | promotes nonreactivity | #2 |
mindfulness training (MT) | decrease | catastrophic appraisals of the significance of abdominal sensations | female IBS patients | - | promotes nonreactivity | #3 |
mindfulness training (MT) | increase | interoceptive data with less emotional interference | female IBS patients | - | refocusing of attention | #4 |
mindfulness training (MT) | decrease | underlying pathogenic mechanisms of IBS | female IBS patients | - | target and ameliorate | #5 |
Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a prevalent functional disorder characterized by abdominal pain and hypervigilance to gastrointestinal sensations. We hypothesized that mindfulness training (MT), which promotes nonreactive awareness of emotional and sensory experience, may target underlying mechanisms of IBS including affective pain processing and catastrophic appraisals of gastrointestinal sensations. Seventy five female IBS patients were randomly assigned to participate in either 8 weeks of MT or a social support group. A theoretically grounded, multivariate path model tested therapeutic mediators of the effect of MT on IBS severity and quality of life. Results suggest that MT exerts significant therapeutic effects on IBS symptoms by promoting nonreactivity to gut-focused anxiety and catastrophic appraisals of the significance of abdominal sensations coupled with a refocusing of attention onto interoceptive data with less emotional interference. Hence, MT appears to target and ameliorate the underlying pathogenic mechanisms of IBS.