ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the biospsychosocial model and its purported impact on managing paediatric gastroenterological conditions. Theoretical dissent is also evident towards the biopsychosocial model through the widely accepted claim that it provides circular causality in its arguments and therefore is too complex to apply. Limitations of the biomedical model have been referred to through the label of a physician-rather than a patient-centred approach. It is characterised by the medic’s fears of emotional involvement and feelings of incompetence at dealing with a patient’s emotional distress, among other things. The variation between other areas of medicine and gastroenterological conditions is marked by the variation in the presentation of symptoms and the long-standing history of psychosocial factors impacting the digestive system. Numerous factors from parental anxiety, education level and motivations to familial composition and commitments all affect how the child’s behaviour is perceived and thus what is reported to the physician and allied health professionals.
