Breaking the cycle: Psychological and social dimensions of pediatric functional gastrointestinal disorders

Table 3 The short-term psychological impacts of functional gastrointestinal disorders in infants and children

FGID	Emotional impacts	Sleep impacts	Behavioral impacts	Social impacts	Cognitive/academic impacts	Somatic & physical impacts	Parental/family dynamics
Infant colic	Excessive crying, irritability, heightened anxiety in both infant and caregiver	Sleep disruption due to frequent crying and inability to soothe	Temper tantrums, irritability, emotional dependency	Strain in caregiver-infant bonding, parental frustration	Limited cognitive growth if stress persists	Physical discomfort, feeding difficulties	Increased parental stress, feelings of helplessness, strained family dynamics due to constant soothing efforts
Functional constipation	Anxiety related to bowel movements, frustration from discomfort	Restless sleep due to discomfort	Avoidance of toileting, fear of painful bowel movements	Avoidance of social situations like school or playdates due to fear of accidents	Difficulty concentrating at school, anxiety-driven distractions	Somatization of abdominal pain, stool withholding behaviors	Increased parental worry and intervention; pressure on family dynamics as caregiving intensifies
GER	Anxiety around feeding, irritability, excessive crying, emotional distress related to discomfort	Interrupted sleep due to pain or discomfort from reflux	Feeding aversion, refusal to eat, tantrums around mealtime	Social withdrawal due to irritability, reluctance to participate in feeding situations	Impaired cognitive development due to poor nutrition or sleep deprivation	Poor weight gain, feeding difficulties, heightened focus on somatic symptoms	Parental anxiety regarding feeding and health, increased stress from constant monitoring of symptoms
Functional diarrhea	Frustration, anxiety related to frequent bowel movements	Sleep disturbances due to frequent nocturnal diarrhea	Avoidance of foods, temper tantrums, anxiety-driven irritability	Social withdrawal due to embarrassment over bowel movements or accidents	Difficulty concentrating in school, absenteeism due to frequent episodes of diarrhea	Somatic complaints like stomach cramps and discomfort	Increased family stress around toileting and diet, tension from dealing with frequent accidents
Cyclic vomiting syndrome	Extreme emotional distress related to unpredictable vomiting episodes, fear of nausea	Sleep disturbances during vomiting episodes, fatigue after episodes	Avoidance of food, reluctance to eat, oppositional behaviors around eating	Withdrawal from social activities to avoid public vomiting, avoidance of mealtimes with others	Missed school days, academic setbacks from frequent episodes, cognitive distraction from fear of vomiting	Dehydration, weight loss, malnutrition due to feeding aversion	High parental anxiety and stress in managing episodic care, tension in family dynamics due to medical uncertainty
IBS	Anxiety about pain or discomfort, emotional distress from unpredictability of symptoms	Difficulty falling asleep due to pain or abdominal discomfort	Fear-driven avoidance of activities, irritability, mood swings	Social isolation due to unpredictability of bowel movements, avoidance of peer interactions	Academic challenges due to absenteeism, difficulty concentrating due to pain and worry	Increased complaints of abdominal pain, potential somatization of discomfort	Parental stress around managing symptoms, anxiety in helping child avoid flare-ups, family tension during episodes
Functional abdominal pain	Emotional distress linked to chronic pain, frustration due to lack of relief from discomfort	Sleep interruptions due to ongoing pain, difficulty falling asleep	Increased tantrums, mood swings, irritability	Social withdrawal, avoidance of activities due to fear of pain episodes	Cognitive distraction due to pain, frequent absenteeism, academic underperformance	Frequent complaints of stomach pain, somatization of emotional distress	Parental anxiety, frustration over not finding relief, overprotective behaviors from caregivers
Abdominal migraine	Anxiety related to unpredictability of episodes, emotional distress due to recurrent pain	Interrupted sleep due to abdominal pain episodes, difficulty falling asleep	Avoidance of food or social activities, mood swings, oppositional behaviors	Social withdrawal, avoidance of peer interactions due to fear of episodes	Missed school days, concentration difficulties, academic delays linked to frequent absences	Somatization, frequent complaints of pain, feeding aversion, poor weight gain	Increased parental stress, family disruption due to focus on managing pain episodes

This table outlines the major psychological, social, cognitive, and physical impacts that each functional gastrointestinal disorder can have on children in the short term. It highlights the complexity of these conditions and their effect on a child's overall well-being and family dynamics. GER: Gastroesophageal reflux; FGID: Functional gastrointestinal disorder; IBS: Irritable bowel syndrome.