[What modifies the course of Crohn disease?]

This paper presents empirical results concerning the interdependency of somatic and psychological factors in the course of Crohn's disease. Data derived from the Heidelberg psychosomatic study on Crohn's disease are explored with the help of canonical correlation analysis. Somatic data recorded in the acute stage of Crohn's disease were not empirically found to be predictive of the psychological status after convalescence empirically. On the other hand, we did find psychological data that allowed prediction of the somatic status when the patients were in remission. Of these psychological data, coping resources are the most important predictors of the course of the disease. In particular, depressive forms of coping are correlated with personality factors, whereas active coping forms are not. The results have implications for scientific theory as well as for clinical practice.