Apathy in MND
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Identifying psychological antecedents for apathy in people with Motor Neuron Disease
IRAS ID
323962
Contact name
Liam/LK Knox
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Sheffield
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Apathy, also known as demotivation, involves reduced motivation, initiation, energy, and activity levels and is present in approximately 40% of people with motor neuron disease (pwMND). Research has linked apathy to depression, decreased quality of life and community-connectedness in pwMND and increased carer burden. Logically, apathy may also affect people’s willingness to engage in health and research; however, this currently remains unknown.
Despite apathy being a prevalent and disabling symptom, research has been limited to examining the effects of apathy (as described above) or physiological investigations on causes (e.g., neuroimaging studies). To date, no research has explored whether psychological motivational theory can explain or predict the development and/or presence of this symptom, which is limiting our current understanding and preventing psychologically informed treatments from being developed. This project aims to fill this gap in the literature and investigate whether the level of apathy in pwMND can be predicted by psychological theories, whilst further examining the effect apathy has on healthcare usage and research participation.
124 pwMND and the same number of caregivers will be recruited over 24 months from Sheffield MND clinic. Participants will complete validated questionnaires, including the Dimensional Apathy Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale (from Social Cognitive Theory) and Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (from Self-Determination Theory). These will be completed once.
Multiple regression through SPSS will be used to explore whether apathy can be predicted by psychological theory, whilst accounting for potential confounding variables, such as age.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
23/YH/0038
Date of REC Opinion
31 Jan 2023
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion