Introduction:

Symptoms of disorders of gut-brain interaction (DGBI) present a high degree of psychiatric comorbidity. Personality, understood as a relatively stable pattern of cognition, emotion, and behavior, may modulate both the expression and severity of gastrointestinal symptoms.

Objective:

To determine the relationship between personality domains and the presence and severity of symptoms associated with DGBI in a clinical sample of patients with mental disorders in Bogotá.

Methods:

An observational, analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted in 131 patients aged over 18 years who were receiving care at a mental health clinic. Gastrointestinal symptoms were assessed using the Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scoring System (IBS-SSS), and personality traits were evaluated using the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). Descriptive analyses, correlation tests, and Kruskal-Wallis comparisons were performed.

Results:

According to IBS-SSS scores, 91.2% of participants presented at least one symptom of DGBI, predominantly within the moderate (42.6%) and mild (31.6%) severity ranges. The domains of negative affect (r = 0.176; p = 0.041), detachment (r = 0.250; p = 0.003), and psychoticism (r = 0.177; p = 0.039) showed significant correlations with greater symptom severity. The detachment domain exhibited significantly higher IBS-SSS symptom severity (χ² = 11.5; degrees of freedom [df] = 3; p = 0.009) compared with other personality domains.

Conclusions:

Personality traits of detachment, negative affect, and psychoticism are associated with a greater presence and severity of intestinal disorder symptoms, supporting the gut-brain interaction hypothesis. These findings underscore the importance of assessing personality traits in gastroenterology and, conversely, evaluating digestive symptoms within mental health settings.

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