Psychological well-being and the role of food in healthy middle-aged and older women who have experienced acute gastrointestinal disturbances

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of self reported gastrointestinal (GI) disturbances in middle aged and older women and the role of food in alleviating these disturbances, so that the effect of food on overall psychological state when experiencing the disturbances and their alleviation can be explored. Design/methodology/approach - One-on-one interviews with general questions and laddering/means-end chain (MEC) elicitation were used to reveal both physical and psychological impacts of GI disturbances and alleviation of the disturbances in women aged between 45 and 70 years old. Findings - In terms of the laddering procedure and cognitive mapping, the number of linkages apparent between concrete and abstract levels demonstrated a complex map of cognitions regarding GI disturbances that involved both physical and psychological impacts. Positive or negative framing of context altered the cognitions revealed in the laddering, with the role of food highlighting these differences. Originality/value - To the best of the authors' knowledge, MEC theory has not been applied to explore the impact of acute GI disturbances in healthy participants on their quality of life. The exploratory research demonstrates that mild and/or acute experiences of GI dysfunction have negative impacts on psychological well-being, similar in type to those suffering from chronic conditions and deepens our understanding of the complexity of inter-relationships between components of well-being in the context of gut health.