Emotion Focused Therapy in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients
Condition: Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders
MeSH terms: Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Gastrointestinal Diseases; Digestive System Diseases
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      The study was quasi-experimental including patients in two intervention and control groups.
      Three measurements were done: pretest, post-test, and a two-months follow-up. The study
      population included patients with irritable bowel syndrome(diagnosed by specialists and based
      on the criteria of Rome III), who referred to a general Hospital. Fifty two irritable bowel
      syndrome patients were selected and assigned to two experiment (26 cases) and control (26
      cases) groups. The criteria below were considered in selection of patients.

      Inclusion criteria: 1) Patients should not have participated in other psychological
      interventions concurrently; 2) Participants had not reported diagnosis of non-functional
      gastrointestinal illnesses. 3) Women patients had not been in pregnancy; 4) Participants had
      not met diagnosis of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders.

      Exclusion criteria: Three or more absences in the group sessions Co-variate variables: 1)
      demo-graphical variables (age, birth order, and education); 2) clinical variables (global
      psychological status, mind-body attribution, and duration of disease).
    

Detailed description: 
      The study was quasi-experimental including patients in two intervention and control groups.
      Three measurements were done: pretest, post-test, and a two-months follow-up. The study
      population included patients with irritable bowel syndrome(diagnosed by specialists and based
      on the criteria of Rome III), who referred to general Hospital . Fifty two irritable bowel
      syndrome patients were selected and assigned to two experiment (26 cases) and control (26
      cases) groups. The criteria below were considered in selection of patients.

      Intervention design Experimental group: Emotion focused therapy was conducted in eight
      sessions (without pretest and post-test sessions) according to Greenberg's manual (22) in a
      clinic of gastrointestinal patients. According to Greenberg manual, emotion focused therapy
      consists of three steps:1) emotional awareness 2) accessing healthy emotions 3) skills of
      emotional intelligence.There were five individuals in the post-test (because of being absent
      more than three sessions or not participating in the post-test).

      Control group: For control group interactions to be effective in therapeutic outcomes, the
      psycho-educational group was assigned as control group. The Psycho-educational group was
      conducted in four sessions (without pretest and post-test sessions). They became familiar
      with etiology and role of psychological factors in irritable bowel syndrome, without any
      psychotherapy. Eight members were removed (because of being absent more than three sessions).

      Ethical permission This study was approved by the research committee of University of
      Isfahan. To appreciate participants, after group therapy, the results of therapy were
      reported to the participants.
    

Intervention name(s): Emotion Focused Therapy
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): EFT was conducted in eight sessions (without pretest and posttest sessions) according to Greenberg's manual (22) in a clinic of gastrointestinal patients. According to Greenberg manual, EFT consists of three steps: 1) emotional awareness 2) accessing healthy emotions 3) skills of emotional intelligence. There were five individuals in the posttest (because of being absent more than three sessions or not participating in the posttest).
Other intervention name(s): EFT
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Treatment
Keywords: Irritable Bowel Syndrome; Emotion Focused Therapy; Stress; Resilience; Coping Strategies