Psychological Factors May Play an Important Role in Pediatric Crohn's Disease Symptoms and Disability

Objective To examine the relative contributions of disease activity and psychological factors to self-reported symptoms and disability in children with Crohn's disease. Study design Participants (n = 127 children age 8-18 years) completed questionnaires on symptom severity and disability, as well as psychological measures assessing anxiety, depression, pain beliefs and coping. Disease activity was measured by the Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index. Structural equation modeling was used to test the effects of disease activity and psychological factors on symptoms and disability. Results In the hypothesized model predicting symptoms, psychological factors (β = 0.58; P