{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T23:32:34Z","timestamp":1790033554041,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,17]],"date-time":"2025-05-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1747440000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Individuals with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) have an increased risk of developing psychiatric co-morbidities, including restrictive eating disorders (REDs), with which they share common pathogenic mechanisms, including gut\u2013brain axis dysregulation. We conducted a case\u2013control study systematically exploring the psychopathological profiles and alexithymia in adolescents with IBDs compared with a clinical group of adolescents diagnosed with REDs in order to test the hypothesis of common psychological characteristics between the two patient populations. Methods: We recruited 76 patients with IBDs and 76 age-matched controls with REDs (64 adolescents with anorexia nervosa and 12 adolescents with avoidant\/restrictive food intake disorder). All participants completed a validated psychometric battery assessing psychological symptoms (SCL-90-R), ED features (EDI-3), and alexithymia (TAS-20). Comprehensive socio-demographic and clinical data were extracted from the medical records. Results: A total of 12 patients with IBDs (15.8%) scored higher than the cut-off (&gt;70th percentile) on the EDI-3 scale for Eating Disorder Risk (EDI-EDRC), with a psychological profile comparable to RED patients. Female gender (OR = 0.133, p = 0.020) and longer disease duration (OR = 1.055, p = 0.036) were identified as significant risk factors for the development of EDs. Conclusions: Our findings suggest common psychological traits between patients with REDs and patients with IBDs at risk of developing EDs during adolescence, highlighting the need for early screening for EDs in patients with IBDs who present with specific socio-demographic and disease characteristics.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu17101706","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,19]],"date-time":"2025-05-19T03:51:03Z","timestamp":1747626663000},"page":"1706","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":5,"title":["\u201cInside the Gut\u2013Brain Axis\u201d: Psychological Profiles of Adolescents with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases and with Restrictive Eating Disorders"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2898-094X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna","family":"Riva","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child Neuropsychiatry, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"},{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-1608-2821","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Gabriele","family":"Arienti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child Neuropsychiatry, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Giovanna","family":"Zuin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Laura","family":"Spini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child Neuropsychiatry, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"},{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8799-7266","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Naire","family":"Sansotta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Paediatric Hepatology Gastroenterology and Transplantation, Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital, 24127 Bergamo, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0925-1255","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrea Eugenio","family":"Cavanna","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy"},{"name":"Department of Neuropsychiatry, National Centre for Mental Health, Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust, Birmingham B15 2FG, UK"},{"name":"School of Medical Sciences, College of Medicine and Health, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK"},{"name":"School of Life and Health Sciences, Aston Brain Centre, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK"},{"name":"Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, Institute of Neurology, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3832-2860","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Renata","family":"Nacinovich","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Child Neuropsychiatry, Fondazione IRCCS San Gerardo dei Tintori, 20900 Monza, Italy"},{"name":"School of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, 20900 Monza, Italy"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1053","DOI":"10.1001\/jamapediatrics.2015.1982","article-title":"Inflammatory Bowel Disease in Children and Adolescents","volume":"169","author":"Rosen","year":"2015","journal-title":"JAMA Pediatr."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"795","DOI":"10.1097\/MPG.0000000000000239","article-title":"European Society of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition. 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