Comparing coping styles, personality traits, and resiliency in multiple sclerosis patients

Abstract

Background and aims: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a common neurological disorder with complex etiology, which is highly affected by psychological factors. These factors should to be identified to help patients with MS (PwMS). This study aimed to compare coping styles, personality traits, and resiliency in PwMS and healthy subjects. Methods: In this case-control study, we selected 75 PwMS from the members of Tehran MS Society in 2016 as case group and 75 healthy subjects as control group. To collect data, we used the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WOCQ), Big Five Factor Inventory–Revised, and Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) and independent T-Test were used to analyze the data. Results: The results indicated that PwMS use emotion-focused coping styles more often (44.53±9.13, P=0.008) and problem-focused coping styles less often (39.84±5.79, P=0.001) compared to control group. Also, they showed higher scores in neuroticism (32.10±4.80, P=0.001) and lower scores in extraversion and conscientiousness (27.46±7.12, P=0.005 and 32.98+±5.72, P=0.008, respectively). The resiliency levels in these patients were also lower than healthy subjects (68.13±13.90, P=0.021). Conclusion: Our findings indicated that PwMS are more likely to use emotional coping strategies in stressful situations compared to healthy individuals. Moreover, data confirmed that a maladaptive personality configuration, which is specified by high neuroticism, along with low extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness are somehow related to MS.