The Effectiveness of Mentalization-Based Treatment on the Severity of Gastrointestinal Symptoms, Fear of Failure in Gastrointestinal Psychosomatic Patients Aged 12 to 18 Years

Abstract

Background:

The severity of gastrointestinal symptoms and fear of failure among patients with gastrointestinal psychosomatic disorder aged 12 to 18 years is of great importance. Based on this, the present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of mentalization-based treatment on the severity of digestive symptoms, fear of failure, and perfectionism among patients with gastrointestinal psychosomatic disorders aged 12 to 18 years.

Materials and Methods:

The present research method was semi-experimental with two groups: pre-test, post-test with a control group, and 45-day follow-up. The statistical population consisted of patients with gastrointestinal psychosomatic disorders aged 12 to 18 years who were referred to treatment centers and pediatric gastroenterology clinics in Isfahan City in 2023. 40 participants were selected based on availability and then divided into two experimental and control groups. The research tools included the gastrointestinal symptom severity questionnaire (Richard Luke, 1998), and the fear of performance failure assessment questionnaire (Conroy et al., 2002). Treatment based on mentalization was held for teenagers during 12 sessions of 90 minutes. Finally, the recorded information was entered into SPSS software version 23 and variance with repeated measures was used to analyze the data. The significance level for all the tests was considered to be 0.01.

Results:

In the experimental group, most people were in the age group of 12-15 years, and in the control group in the age group of 15-18 years. Therefore, most of the people in the experimental and control groups were 12-15 and 15-18 years old, respectively. Also, most people in the experimental and control groups were girls (13 and 17, respectively, equivalent to 76.5% and 85%). The results showed that the treatment based on mentalization had an effect on the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms and fear of failure in patients with gastrointestinal psychosomatic disorder aged 12 to 18 years. The treatment of mentalization was effective in reducing the severity of gastrointestinal symptoms, but it had no significant effect on the fear of failure.

Conclusion:

The results showed that an important category of psychosomatic disorders is digestive dysfunction; therefore, it is mandatory to investigate digestive symptoms and fear of failure in all patients with psychosomatic disorder.