Applying the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation to MCI v1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Applying the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation to Mild Cognitive Impairment to examine associations between illness perceptions and psychological outcomes and the mediating effects of coping.
IRAS ID
340859
Contact name
Taryn Talbott
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cardiff University Research Integrity, Governance & Ethics Team
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 31 days
Research summary
Summary of Research
Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a condition in which someone has mild problems with cognitive abilities such as memory or problem-solving. In MCI these difficulties are worse than would be expected for a healthy person of their age. However, the symptoms are not severe enough to impact upon activities of daily living, and so are not defined as dementia. As with all diagnoses, different people will react and cope in different ways. This research study is aiming to explore whether the beliefs of people with MCI and the way in which they cope with difficulties affects their mental health.The study will recruit people with a diagnosis of MCI to take part. Participation will involve completing four questionnaires that have multiple choice responses, which will measure perceptions of their MCI diagnosis, coping styles and wellbeing. This should take around 30 minutes to complete. Participants can take part via online questionnaires or can request a hard copy of the documents which can be posted with a prepaid envelope for their return. Recruitment will take place through NHS memory assessment clinics in Hywel Dda University Health Board and Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and online via social media and the Join Dementia Research site. The study is sponsored by Cardiff University and all information collected during the research project will be anonymised. Whilst taking part in the study may not benefit participants directly, it is hoped that the project will lead to an increased understanding of how perceptions of MCI and coping styles may affect the mental health of people with MCI. This may help services to be better able to support people with MCI to manage and improve their symptoms.
Summary of Results
Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) is a condition where people experience more memory and thinking problems than expected for their age, but these difficulties are not severe enough to be diagnosed as dementia. People with MCI are more likely to experience depression and anxiety compared to others of a similar age. This study looked at how people with MCI view their condition, how they cope with it, and how these factors affect their mental health.A total of 121 people with MCI took part. They completed questionnaires about:
- their thoughts and feelings about their diagnosis,
- the ways they try to cope, and
- their levels of depression and anxiety.The results showed that people who had more negative feelings about their diagnosis, or who felt they had little control over their condition, were more likely to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety. This was especially the case when they coped by avoiding the problem (for example, by denying or ignoring it). In contrast, people who felt they had more personal control over their condition tended to use more positive coping strategies, although these were not clearly linked to better mental health in this study.
The study suggests that helping people with MCI to change negative beliefs about their condition and to use healthier coping strategies could improve their mental health. However, because this was a relatively small study, mostly involving white participants, and looked at one point in time only, the results should be treated with caution. Larger and more diverse studies are needed to confirm the findings.
REC name
North West - Preston Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/NW/0262
Date of REC Opinion
12 Sep 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion