Anxiety, Depressive Symptomatology, and Perfectionism Traits and Their Relationship with Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction in Children.

Purpose: Disorders of the gut-brain interaction (DGBIs), formerly known as functional gastrointestinal disorders, are a set of recurrent or chronic digestive symptoms that are not explained by structural or biochemical alterations. The pathophysiology of these disorders is not completely known, but it is believed that different environmental, genetic, social, or psychological factors may generate them. Therefore, the sphere of mental health must be taken into consideration. Our objective was to determine the prevalence of disorders of the gut-brain interaction, anxiety, depressive symptomatology, and perfectionist traits in children and adolescents aged 10-14 years and to analyze the relationship between psychological features and abdominal pain.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical observational study included 447 students (51.9% female) aged between 10-14 (median age=12.26) years from four schools in the province of Castellón.

Results: Notably, 37.1% of the students had some type of DGBI. Children with depressive symptoms had 4.69 times higher odds of presenting with some type of DGBI, and children with anxiety had 2.86 times higher odds of presenting with some type of DGBI. Students who exhibited only socially prescribed perfectionism had 2.07 times higher odds of presenting with some type of DGBI.

Conclusion: Children aged 10-14 years who had depressive symptomatology, perfectionist personality traits (specifically socially prescribed perfectionism), and anxiety (only in children over 12 years) were more likely to have DGBIs.