Comparison of Coping Strategies in People with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Healthy People in Terms of Health Locus of Control

Background: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a group of disorders that cause chronic inflammation (pain and swelling) in the intestines. IBD includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Both types affect the digestive system. The study aims to compare coping strategies in people with inflammatory bowel disease and healthy people, according to internal and external sources of health control. Methods: The method used in the present study was a causal-comparative description. The population of this study included all patients with inflammatory bowel disease and healthy people who were referred to the bowel department of the Jam Hospital in Tehran, 2020 from April to September. The research sample included 200 subjects (N=87 healthy people and N=113 people with inflammatory bowel disease) who were selected by purposeful sampling method. The participants completed the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC) and the Folkman and Lazarus Coping Strategies Inventory. For the analysis of the data, statistical indices of mean, standard deviation, distribution indices, and univariate and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) were used by SPSS24. Results: The findings showed that among the eight coping skills, two problem-oriented coping skills, i.e., positive reappraisal and responsibility, were higher in people with IBD, and no difference was seen in other coping skills between patients/healthy groups (P >0.05). About the variable of the source of health control, it was found that among the eight coping strategies, only the emotion-oriented coping strategy of avoidance was more common in people with an internal locus of control, and in using other coping skills between the two groups of people with a source of control no difference was observed between internal and external control. Conclusions: In the present study, according to research, coping strategies are statistically similar in four groups of inflammatory bowel disease patients and healthy people.