The Relations Among GI Symptoms, Mental Health, and Online Schooling for Youth With GI Conditions During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Abigail S Robbertz, Cecelia I Nelson, James Peugh and 3 others
PMID 41042534WHAT IT FOUND
Youth with GI conditions who attended online school reported worse GI symptoms than those in person.
Higher anxiety also predicted worse GI symptoms. Depression and anger did not predict GI symptom worsening.
Key findings
01Attending online school was associated with worsening GI symptoms, while in-person schooling was not.
02Higher anxiety symptoms were associated with worsening GI symptoms, but depression and anger were not.
03Youth with IBS reported more anxiety and more GI symptoms than those with IBD or celiac disease.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study is correlational, so it cannot prove that online schooling or anxiety caused worse GI symptoms. There was no pre-pandemic baseline data to compare against, so it is unclear if these symptom levels were unique to the pandemic period. The exploratory analysis by GI condition was underpowered and should be interpreted with caution. The study adapted standard questionnaires to ask about changes 'since the pandemic started' rather than the last 7 days, which may affect the accuracy of recall. The sample was largely White and non-Hispanic, and recruited from a single private clinic in the southern United States, limiting generalizability.
Declared interests
The authors report no competing interests. Data are available upon request.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that online schooling causes worse GI symptoms. This is a correlational study, so unmeasured factors like family stress or lack of routine during the pandemic may explain both the anxiety and the GI worsening.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →