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Depressive symptoms and coping in newly diagnosed patients with multiple sclerosis

The Norwegian Centre for Movement Disorders, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway kli{at}sus.no

E Bru

Centre of Behavioral Research, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

G Klevan

Department of Neurology, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway

KM Myhr

The Norwegian Multiple Sclerosis Competence Centre, Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine, Section of Neurology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

H Nyland

The Norwegian Multiple Sclerosis Competence Centre, Department of Neurology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine, Section of Neurology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

JP Larsen

The Norwegian Centre for Movement Disorders, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway; Department of Neurology, Stavanger University Hospital, Stavanger, Norway; Department of Clinical Medicine, Section of Neurology, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway

Background

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease with unclear etiology, unpredictable clinical course, and no cure. Patients’ ability to cope with MS moderates the adaptation to the disease.

Objectives

To compare coping in patients recently diagnosed with MS and healthy controls and to study the association between depressive symptoms and patients' coping styles.

Methods

A sample of 86 recently diagnosed patients with definite or probable MS and 93 healthy population controls completed questionnaires assessing coping styles and depressive symptoms.

Results

Compared with healthy controls, patients with MS used significantly less the problem focused strategies including planning, restraint coping, and seeking social support for instrumental reasons, and they used less the emotion-focused strategies seeking social support for emotional reasons, focusing on and venting of emotions, and positive reinterpretation and growth. The mean Beck Depressive symptoms Inventory scores were 10.8 and 4.7 in patients and controls, respectively. In stress situations connected to MS, depressive symptoms in these patients were related to the problem-focused strategies of restraint coping and planning, the emotion-focused strategy of focusing on and venting of emotions, and the avoidance strategies of behavioral- and mental disengagements, and denial.

Key Words: coping • depression • healthy controls • multiple sclerosis

This version was published on May 1, 2009

Multiple Sclerosis, Vol. 15, No. 5, 638-643 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/1352458509102313


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