Specificity of coping strategies among patients with Crohn's disease in remission: A qualitative analysis

Introduction. - Crohn's disease (CD), a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, has strong psychological and social repercussions related to the specificity of the symptomatology. To better understand how patients cope with the disease, coping strategies have been studied but without taking into account the specificity of the CD experience. Objective. - Our objective is to identify the perceived coping strategies used by patients in relation to their illness experience. Method. - Using a qualitative approach, semi-structured interviews and thematic content analysis with 33 CD patients in remission were conducted. Results. - Our results highlight that some of the coping strategies used are not taken into account by the coping scales frequently used in the literature. Indeed, the illness experience appears to be fundamental in the establishment of new strategies based on the experiential knowledge patients use to reduce the stress induced by a potential relapse. Moreover, coping strategies based on positive emotions are also implemented, and they enable patients to make sense of the disease. Conclusion. - The coping strategies, i.e., ``experiential knowledge'' and ``positive emotions'', may shed more light on the complexity of the illness experience of CD patients and allow us to make recommendations concerning the psychological support of patients. (C) 2021 Societe Francaise de Psychologie. Published by Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.