The Effectiveness of Emotion Regulation-Based Therapy on Emotion Regulation, Cognitive Flexibility, and Symptom Severity in Patients with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of emotion regulation-based therapy on emotion regulation, cognitive flexibility, and symptom severity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.

METHOD: In this randomized controlled trial, 40 patients with irritable bowel syndrome (diagnosed according to Rome IV criteria) referred to Hospital (2025) were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups (20 per group); 36 participants completed the study (18 per group). The experimental group received ten 90-minute group Emotion Regulation-Based Therapy (ERT) sessions based on the Mennin and Fresco (2014) protocol, with treatment fidelity monitored through supervision after each session. The control group received usual medical care. Data were collected using the Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ), Cognitive Flexibility Inventory (CFI), and Functional Bowel Disorder Symptom Severity Scale (FS-BSS) at pretest, posttest, and three-month follow-up, and analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA in SPSS 26.

RESULTS

The intervention significantly increased cognitive reappraisal and cognitive flexibility and decreased expressive suppression and symptom severity at posttest and follow-up compared with the control group (p < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

Emotion regulation-based therapy appears to be an effective adjunctive intervention for improving emotional and cognitive processes and reducing symptom severity in patients with irritable bowel syndrome.