Body Evaluation and Body Ownership in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease: the Role of Interoceptive Sensibility and Childhood Maltreatment

Abstract

Objective: Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are accompanied by symptoms that can vastly affect patients’ representations of their bodies. The aim of this study was to investigate alterations in body evaluation and body ownership in IBD and their link to interoceptive sensibility, gastrointestinal-specific anxiety, and history of childhood maltreatment. Methods: Body evaluation and ownership was assessed in 41 clinically remitted patients with IBD and 44 healthy controls (HC) using a topographical self-report method. Interoceptive sensibility, gastrointestinal-specific anxiety and a history of childhood maltreatment were assessed via self-report questionnaires. Results: Patients reporting higher interoceptive sensibility perceived their bodies in a more positive manner. Higher gastrointestinal-specific anxiety was linked to a more negative body evaluation particularly of the abdomen in patients with IBD. Childhood maltreatment severity strengthened the positive association between interoceptive sensibility and body ownership only in those patients reporting higher trauma load. Conclusion: Altered body representations of areas associated with abdominal pain are linked to higher symptom-specific anxiety and lower levels of interoceptive sensibility in IBD. Particularly in patients with a history of childhood maltreatment, higher levels of interoceptive sensibility might have a beneficial effect on the patients’ sense of body ownership.