Coping in adolescents and young adults with chronic digestive disorders: impact on school and leisure activities.

Coping strategies were compared across adolescents and young adults with several chronic digestive disorders and healthy peers, and across age groups. Subsequently, the impact of coping on performance in school and leisure activities was investigated. Participants were adolescents and young adults (age 12 to 25 years) suffering from inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), chronic liver diseases, congenital diseases, coeliac disease or food allergy (total n =521) and healthy controls ( n =274). For comparison reasons, a generic coping measuring instrument was employed: the shortened version of the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS-21). The CISS-21 assesses three meta coping strategies: task-oriented, emotion-oriented and avoidance coping. Comparisons between several groups only revealed less use of coping strategies in the youngest adolescents. No differences were found among diagnostic groups, nor between diagnostic groups and control group. Coping was found to be related to school and leisure activities of adolescents and young adults with chronic digestive disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]