OBJECTIVE: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with various psychological problems, including depression and anxiety. Whilst MS support groups are intended to improve mental health, this goal is not always achieved. Taking a social identity approach, we hypothesise that it is the level of subjective identification with a support group (rather than simply support group membership per se) that positively affects the mental health of people with MS. METHODS: 152 individuals with MS were recruited via UK MS support groups and completed a questionnaire. This included measures of support group identification, depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life, as well as control variables (education level and age). RESULTS: Analyses revealed that, as hypothesised, support group identification was significantly linked to depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life. Moreover, group identification explained a significant amount of variance in addition to that explained by education and age on each health outcome. Repeating the analysis to compare each of the three main sub-types of MS revealed these effects to be present for individuals with relapsing-remitting (RR) and Primary Progressive (PP) MS, but not for those with secondary progressive (SP) MS. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that identifying highly with an MS support group has important positive outcomes for MS patients' mental health. This has implications for practicing clinicians: people with MS (particularly RRMS and PPMS) should be encouraged to engage with support groups, but more must be done to ensure they subjectively identify with these groups, rather than merely attend them.
OBJECTIVE:Multiple sclerosis (MS) is associated with various psychological problems, including depression and anxiety. Whilst MS support groups are intended to improve mental health, this goal is not always achieved. Taking a social identity approach, we hypothesise that it is the level of subjective identification with a support group (rather than simply support group membership per se) that positively affects the mental health of people with MS. METHODS: 152 individuals with MS were recruited via UK MS support groups and completed a questionnaire. This included measures of support group identification, depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life, as well as control variables (education level and age). RESULTS: Analyses revealed that, as hypothesised, support group identification was significantly linked to depression, anxiety and satisfaction with life. Moreover, group identification explained a significant amount of variance in addition to that explained by education and age on each health outcome. Repeating the analysis to compare each of the three main sub-types of MS revealed these effects to be present for individuals with relapsing-remitting (RR) and Primary Progressive (PP) MS, but not for those with secondary progressive (SP) MS. CONCLUSIONS: We suggest that identifying highly with an MS support group has important positive outcomes for MS patients' mental health. This has implications for practicing clinicians: people with MS (particularly RRMS and PPMS) should be encouraged to engage with support groups, but more must be done to ensure they subjectively identify with these groups, rather than merely attend them.
Authors: Alicia E Meuret; Michael Chmielewski; Ashton M Steele; David Rosenfield; Sibylle Petersen; Jasper A J Smits; Naomi M Simon; Michael W Otto; Luana Marques; Mark H Pollack; Stefan G Hofmann Journal: Behav Res Ther Date: 2016-04-02
Authors: Iris D Noordman; Janiëlle Aem van der Velden; Henri Jlm Timmers; Nicole Reisch; Annette Richter-Unruh; Catherine Pienkowksi; Nel Roeleveld; Hedi L Claahsen-van der Grinten Journal: Compr Psychoneuroendocrinol Date: 2021-01-23
Authors: Saskia Elkhalii-Wilhelm; Anna Sippel; Karin Riemann-Lorenz; Christopher Kofahl; Jutta Scheiderbauer; Sigrid Arnade; Ingo Kleiter; Stephan Schmidt; Christoph Heesen Journal: PLoS One Date: 2022-05-27 Impact factor: 3.752
Authors: Mark Tarrant; Krystal Warmoth; Chris Code; Sarah Dean; Victoria A Goodwin; Ken Stein; Thavapriya Sugavanam Journal: BMJ Open Date: 2016-02-23 Impact factor: 2.692