Positive Group-psychotherapy in Multiple Sclerosis: The Effect on Psychological Symptoms and Quality of Life

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is one of the disorders of the central nervous system which creates many challenges for the psychological adjustment of patients all over the world. Objectives:This research was performed to demonstrate the effect of positive group-psychotherapy on reducing the psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress) and improving the quality of life in women with MS. Materials & Methods: The method of this research is quasi-experimental with pre-test, post-test, and control group. A total of 30 women were selected through a convenient sampling method from the patients of the MS-Society of Guilan Province, Iran. Then, they and randomly divided into 2 equal groups (experimental and control). The study data were collected through Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS) and Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale‐29 (MSIS) questionnaires. The intervention process was performed for the experimental group as 8 training sessions of 90 minutes long. The obtained data were analyzed by univariate analysis of covariance and multivariate analysis of covariance in SPSS V. 24. Results: The analysis showed that positive group-psychotherapy significantly modified the depression, anxiety, stress (F=39.13, P<0.001), and quality of life (F=50.44, P<0.001) in the experimental group. Conclusion: Positive group-psychotherapy can be used as an effective and efficient psychotherapy method to reduce and improve the psychological symptoms (depression, anxiety, and stress) of women with multiple sclerosis and improve their quality of life.

Keywords:

Psychotherapy , Depression , Anxiety , Quality of life , Multiple Sclerosis