Cognitive and affective features of postpolio syndrome: Illness uncertainty, attributional style, and adaptation

Abstract

We examined a sample of 58 individuals with postpolio syndrome (PPS). Subjects completed measures of illness severity, perceived support from the medical community, attributional style, illness uncertainty, and general emotional adaptation. We found elevated levels of emotional distress across several parameters of emotional adaptation. Illness uncertainty and generalized negative outcome expectancies were strongly associated with poorer adaptation; disease severity and perceived support from the medical community did not relate to measures of emotional adaptation. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses revealed that illness uncertainty and both stable and global attributions for negative events contributed significant, unique variance to the prediction of psychological distress beyond the influence of illness severity and demographic parameters. In general, individuals with PPS appear to be at risk for problems in adaptation, and specific cognitive appraisal processes appear to play an influential role in the development of these problems. Our findings have general implications for clinical management of persons with PPS.