Author: Fadia Hasasneh
The study aimed to investigate stressful life events and its relation with mental health of irritable bowel syndrome patients at Bethlehem Governorate, Palestine. The study approached the literature as a multi-dimensional phenomenon, which addressed both theoretical and applied research. The significance of this recent study is the first, which dealt with this theme, to the author knowledge, which in turn encourages other researchers to work on further research on this important issue.
To achieve this end, the study adopted the quantitative research approach using the sampling survey method. The questionnaire is appropriate for the exploratory nature of the research, which consists of 47-items. The random purposive method was utilized which comprised of a sample size of (236) irritable bowel syndrome patients at clinics of Bethlehem Governorate. Data were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS).
The results revealed that the irritable bowel syndrome patients experienced a moderate level of stressful life events and a low level of mental health. The mean scores and standard deviation were (M 3.29 SD 0.70; M 2.32 SD 0.61) respectively. The study revealed the determinant effect of stressful life events on decreasing mental health of irritable bowel syndrome patients. It was found that when stressful life events increases, mental health decreases and vice versa.
The results of the study revealed significant statistical differences in stressful life events among the patients due to marital status. However, no statistical significant differences were found in the rest of the study variables that are, age, gender, educational level, and number of children. Additionally, the findings of the study revealed no significant statistical differences in mental health of irritable bowel syndrome patients due to age, gender, marital status, educational level, and number of children.
The above findings confirm the value of stressful life events in decreasing the mental health of irritable bowel syndrome patients, and recommended that, patients should keep away from issues that increase symptoms that are, anxiety, tension and any psychological pressure; and emphasized the role of family social support and friends as well to alleviate the stressful life events of irritable bowel syndrome patients, in addition to the intensification of intervention programs in dealing with patients with irritable bowel syndrome.
Keywords: Stressful life events, mental health, patients, irritable bowel syndrome.
Fadia Hasasneh, MA. Psychological Counselling, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Educational Sciences, Al-Quds University, Main Campus, Jerusalem- Abu Dies, Palestine. Independent Researcher, Bethlehem, Palestine. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
