Date of Award

Spring 5-19-2024

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Major

Psychology

First Advisor

Brian Chin

Second Advisor

Dr. Bradley Jerson

Abstract

Inflammatory Bowel Disease is a term that is used to classify Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. It is abundantly clear from past literature that hospitalizations and surgery can lead to PTSD (Taft et al., 2019). However, past research has not examined the impact that smaller procedures, such as infusions, can have on an individual’s mental health. Patients at Connecticut Children’s Infusion Center were recruited during their infusion appointments. After obtaining consent, patients completed questionnaires measuring their felt stigma and concealment, PTSD, and depression and anxiety symptoms. The research team completed medical chart reviews to identify the types of medications participants were taking and the amount of blood draws and infusions they have had in the past year. Our hypotheses were (1) repeated micro-medical procedures will be positively associated with symptoms of anxiety and depression in individuals with Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis, and (2) repeated micro-medical procedures will be positively associated with symptoms of medical trauma in individuals with Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis. Hypothesis one was not supported. However, there was a positive correlation between number of medication types and PTSD symptoms in pediatric patients and adult patients, which is consistent with hypothesis two. Specifically, pediatric patients who were taking rectally-administered medication had higher PTSD scores than patients who were not. Surprisingly, we did not find associations between PTSD scores and patients’ number of blood draws and infusions or between micro-medical procedures and anxiety and depression.

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