Dissertation Research: The Impact of Perceived Stress, Health Behavior, and Social Support on the Occurrence of IBD in Asian and British Populations in Great Britain

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McGrath/Barone 9309267 It is generally accepted that psycho social stress is causally related to health but the precise nature of this relationship is not clear. The purpose of the present study is to examine the importance of social factors, particularly social support and culturally determined differences in health-related behaviors, as intervening variables linking psycho social stress and health outcome. In particular, the interrelationships between psycho social stress, social support, and the frequency, duration, and severity of morbid Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) episodes will be examined in Asian and British residents of two cities in Great Britain. IBD is a category of chronic gastrointestinal tract diseases, of unknown etiology, that produces episodes of nausea, pain and bloody diarrhea. Europe in general and Great Britain in particular are known to have the highest worldwide prevalences of IBD, suggesting a genetic predisposition for people of European ancestry. However, Asians living in Great Britain exhibit prevalences of IBD similar to native Britons. The fact that both Asians and native Britons exhibit high prevalences of IBD suggests that non genetic factors play an important role in the etiology of IBD and that these factors impact equally on British and Asian residents of Great Britain. Psycho social stress is associated with disease onset and recurrence by physicians and patients. Pilot research in Leicester, England suggests cultural differences in perceived stress and health behavior affect the frequency, duration, and severity of IBD episodes, differences masked in prevalence rat es. It is the hypothesis of the present study that British and Asian populations have different cultural patterns for identifying and responding through behavior to stressful situations, resulting in different patterns of health and stress-related chronic disease, in this case IBD. *** McGrath/Barone It is generally accepted that psycholsocial stress is causally related to health but the precise nature of thi % ' ! ! ! F S Times New Roman Symbol & Arial 1 Pres Elite 5 Courier New & Casablanca q " h 2 E 2 E + 2 DEBRA TERESA WHITE Raymond Hames