Psychological Adjustment in Progressive Multiple Sclerosis

  • Research type

    Research Study

  • Full title

    Psychological adjustment in people with progressive multiple sclerosis: A longitudinal quantitative study

  • IRAS ID

    187658

  • Contact name

    Fern Day

  • Contact email

    fern.day@city.ac.uk

  • Sponsor organisation

    City University

  • Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier

    IRAS Project ID, 187658

  • Duration of Study in the UK

    1 years, 8 months, 31 days

  • Research summary

    Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease which can lead to disabling symptoms across many body systems and marked impairments in psychological, social, and occupational function. MS has a huge impact on the lives of those affected, however, there remains no cure and existing treatments are limited for people with progressive MS. In the absence of a means to treat the underlying neurological cause, a more useful therapeutic endeavour is to improve quality of life for people with MS over the course of their illness.

    MS varies greatly between individuals and has an unpredictable course. In order to manage the impact on their lives, people with MS must make continual physical and psychological adjustments over time. When MS is progressive, people tend to experience poorer quality of life and face even greater adjustment challenges. Several psychosocial factors, for example, stress, coping, and social support, have been linked to adjustment in MS. These findings raise important questions: Which factors help people adjust? How might this happen? And is it possible to change these factors in order to improve adjustment and quality of life among with people with MS?

    The aim of this study is to address these questions by asking people with progressive MS about their illness, how they are adjusting to it, and relevant psychosocial factors on two occasions. Their answers will be analysed to identify relationships between particular psychosocial factors and adjustment over a year. The results of this study, as well as previous interview work with people affected by MS and findings from the broader literature, will enable us to develop a theoretical model of adjustment to MS over time. This model can then be used to develop future interventions aimed at facilitating adjustment and improving quality of life among people with progressive MS.

  • REC name

    Wales REC 7

  • REC reference

    16/WA/0034

  • Date of REC Opinion

    29 Jan 2016

  • REC opinion

    Favourable Opinion