Integrating illness concerns into cognitive behavioral therapy for children and adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease and co-occurring anxiety

Purpose: To examine the feasibility and preliminary benefits of an integrative cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with adolescents with inflammatory bowel disease and anxiety. Design and Methods: Nine adolescents participated in a CBT program at their gastroenterologist's office. Structured diagnostic interviews, self-report measures of anxiety and pain, and physician-rated disease severity were collected pretreatment and post-treatment. Results: Postintervention, 88% of adolescents were treatment responders, and 50% no longer met criteria for their principal anxiety disorder. Decreases were demonstrated in anxiety, pain, and disease severity. Practice Implications: Anxiety screening and a mental health referral to professionals familiar with medical management issues is important.