[Social support and its relation to physical and emotional findings in Crohn's disease patients]

It was the aim of the present study to identify correlations between social, psychological and physical findings in 57 unselected patients with Crohn's disease from a gastroenterological outpatient department. Social support was registered using the confidant rating and the social network using a network questionnaire. Additional internal-medical and psychodiagnostic test instruments were used for a specific description of the sample. Anxieties, depressive moods and emotional lability were significantly less pronounced in patients with a confidant than in those without or with a less supportive partner. And the former also seemed to be more able to adequately cope with the disease than the patients of the other groups. With respect to the physical findings, the differences between the groups were less pronounced: Nevertheless, patients who were supported by a partner tended to show lower activity levels for Crohn's disease (Best index) than the others. The results obtained by the network questionnaire were less specific but altogether confirmed the results of the confidant rating. The study confirms the results of comparable investigations done in other clinical patient groups. The construct of social support is discussed critically with respect to psychoanalytical and family-dynamic concepts.