Patterns of interpersonal problems in irritable bowel syndrome patients: A circumplex analysis

Objective: This study explored the nature of interpersonal problems in IBS patients using the interpersonal circumplex (Wiggins JS. Agency and communion as conceptual coordinates for the understanding and measurement of interpersonal behavior. In Ciccetti D, editors. Thinking clearly about psychology, Vol. 2. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1991. pp. 89-113) as an organizing framework. Based on conceptualizations of interpersonal behavior of IBS patients (Toner BB, Segal ZV, Emmott S, Myran D. Cognitive-behavioral treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. New York: Guilford Press, 2000), we predicted that their interpersonal problems would peak in the friendly submissive regions of the circumplex. Method: Fifty-nine healthy controls and 174 IBS patients completed the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems (IIP) and Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Results: The interpersonal profile of IBS patients was characterized by difficulties with assertiveness and, to a lesser extent, social inhibition. Gender-controlled analyses did not attenuate between group differences on nonassertiveness and, in some cases, sharpened them. Patients with diarrhea-predominant subtype or longer symptom duration had more pronounced interpersonal problems than did their respective counterparts. Conclusion: The main finding that IBS patients have a distinctive interpersonal style characterized by aspects of submissiveness speaks to the potential value of the circumplex for increasing our understanding of IBS.