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Background: Anxiety disorders are common among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Schema therapy may prove successful in the treatment of psychological disorders in MS patients. Objectives: This study evaluated the effectiveness of schema therapy on anxiety, depression, sleep quality, and fatigue in patients with MS. Methods: This research was a randomized controlled trial examining the effect of schema therapy on anxiety in MS. It was conducted on 106 patients with MS visiting the MS clinics of Isfahan, Iran, in 2020. The participants were divided into two groups by using block randomization. The evaluations were performed during one year at three times: Pretest (Time 1), posttest (Time 2), and follow-up (Time 3). The assessments were conducted using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), 29-item Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). SPSS v. 26 was used to analyze the data. Results: There was a significant decrease in anxiety and depression in the group receiving schema therapy compared to the control group (P< 0.001). The group-time interaction effect was also significant for anxiety and depression (P< 0.001), but no significant effect on fatigue, quality of life, and sleep was observed. Conclusions: The findings indicated the effectiveness of schema therapy in decreasing anxiety and depression in patients with MS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most frequent monogenic disease worldwide. Psychological and behavioural factors are often reported as playing a significant role in predicting SCD health outcomes. When focusing on adaptation to a specific health condition and its treatment, the Common Sense Model of Health and Illness (CSM) has proven to be of heuristic value. In other health conditions, illness outcomes are directly influenced by illness perception. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the psychometric proprieties of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). We performed a cross-sectional assessment on 517 adult patients with sickle cell disease and collected the results of 406 IPQ-R. With these data, we verified the factor structure of the Belief scale and proposed modifications to improve its fit to the data with a confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, we explored the factorial structure of the Causal attribution scale with an exploratory factor analysis. The initial model showed poor fit with the data. After structural modifications, elimination of two items with a low loading (model 2), covariance added between items (model 3) and items reallocation (model 4), the last model proposed presented a correct fit with the data. Before doing this model specification, we reviewed and compiled the nine studies that explored the psychometric properties of the IPQ-R in order to highlight all the modifications made by the other authors who have adapted the IPQ-R to a specific population and to allow a comparison with our own modifications. Considering previous findings, this research suggests further work is needed on the structure of the dimensions of the IPQ-R. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social activities contribute to social engagement of people with dementia in nursing homes. An observational study was conducted to examine how a multicomponent psychosocial intervention could impact social interactions of people with dementia living in a nursing home. Thirty-six people with moderate to moderately severe dementia received a five-week multicomponent psychosocial intervention. The length of interactions was measured during eight minutes before and after each workshop. Codes, categories and themes of interaction were specified with a content analysis. The mean length of interaction significantly increased after the intervention by 67% between residents (p =.027) and by 151% with care staff (p =.023). Seventeen codes of interaction were observed. Four categories of interactions were identified: memories, feeling about others and self-expression, life in the nursing home, and factual interactions. These categories have been grouped into two themes: small talk (uninvolved conversations) and substantive talk (involved conversations). Substantive talk increased significantly after the intervention (p =.002). Our multicomponent psychosocial intervention seemed to have an impact on social interactions of people with dementia. They were able to speak about several topics and in a substantive way. This kind of intervention promotes social interactions and strengthens social health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The objective of this study is to investigate the efficacy of psychological Interventions – Mindfulness or Implementation Intention – associated with a Physical Activity program, delivered via internet, in reducing Multiple Sclerosis symptoms. Method: Thirty-five adults were randomly assigned to one of the three groups: a Mindfulness-Based Intervention group (N = 12), Implementation Intention group (N = 11), and a Control Group (N = 12). All the groups received the same Physical Activity program. The Mindfulness condition group received daily training in the form of pre-recorded sessions while the Implementation group elaborated their specific plans once a week. Mobility, fatigue, and the impact of the disease on the patient's life were measured. Two measurement times are carried out in pre-post intervention, at baseline and after eight weeks. Results: Overall, after 8 weeks intervention, results show that there was a significant increase in Walking distance in the three groups. In addition, the within-group analysis showed a statistically significant improvement between pre and post intervention on the physical component of the Disease Impact scale in the Implementation Intention group (p = 0.023) with large effect size, in the Mindfulness-Based Intervention group (p = 0.008) with a medium effect size and in the control group (p = 0.028) with small effect size. In the Implementation Intention group, all physical, psychosocial and cognitive Fatigue Impact subscales scores decreased significantly (p = 0.022, p = 0.023, and p = 0.012, respectively) and the physical component was statistically and negatively correlated (r = −0.745; p = 0.008) when Implementation Intention group practice a mild to moderate physical activity. In the Mindfulness-Based Intervention group, the physical component (MFIS) showed a statistically significant improvement (p = 0.028) but no correlation with moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA); the control group outcomes did not reveal any significant change. Conclusion: The results of this study are very encouraging and show the feasibility of Mindfulness interventions associated with physical activity to improve the health of people with MS. Further study should assess Mindfulness interventions tailored to MS condition and using both hedonic and eudemonic measures of happiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because the relationship between Crohn's Disease (CD) activity and CD-related fatigue remains poorly understood, this study investigated the role of underlying psychological processes (depression, anxiety, and emotional processing). It was expected that the relationship between CD activity and CD-related fatigue would be mediated by depression and anxiety and also by a deficit in emotional processing. This prediction was tested in 110 CD patients who completed self-reported questionnaires assessing fatigue (FSS), clinical activity of Crohn's Disease (HBAI), psychological suffering (HADS), and emotional processing (EPS-25). A path analysis showed both direct and indirect effects in the relationship between CD activity and CD-related fatigue, accounting for 33% of the variance. One indirect effect on the experience of fatigue was depression, but there was no effect of anxiety. These preliminary results confirmed that disease activity induces an increase in depressive symptoms, which in turn leads to an increase in the level of fatigue. The most novel result of the present study is that emotional processing had an indirect effect on the relationship between CD and CD-related fatigue: when the disease was more active, patients exhibited greater disruption of emotional processing, which in turn led to greater fatigue. These results did not reveal any association between depression and emotional processing. In conclusion, this work highlights the role of emotional processing in CD-related fatigue and the importance of taking this factor into account in order to manage this condition better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La drépanocytose est la plus fréquente des maladies génétiques graves au monde et en France. Malgré l'amélioration que confère la prise en charge médicale actuelle, le taux de non-adhésion aux traitements reste fort, conduisant au maintien d'un niveau d'hospitalisation élevé. Dans d'autres maladies chroniques, un lien a été montré entre la représentation de la maladie (selon le modèle de Leventhal) et l'observance thérapeutique. Cependant, ce lien n'a pas été montré dans une maladie génétique et aucune donnée n'existe sur la drépanocytose. Dans ce travail, nous avons tenté une première approche des dimensions de la représentation qui pourraient influencer l'observance et l'adhésion thérapeutique. Les analyses effectuées suggèrent un modèle à trois facteurs : la chronicité perçue de la maladie, la perception de l'efficacité des traitements et les émotions négatives associées à la maladie influencent l'observance thérapeutique et expliquent 29,2 % de sa variance. Nos résultats montrent que le modèle de Leventhal peut s'appliquer dans une maladie chronique d'origine génétique dont l'étiologie est connue, permettant de mieux comprendre le rôle de la représentation de la maladie sur différentes dimensions, dont l'observance thérapeutique. Cette recherche exploratoire est un point de départ pour le développement d'autres études afin d'apporter une meilleure connaissance de cette maladie. Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a major healthcare and societal problem that affects millions of people worldwide. In France, SCD is the most common genetic disorder. Although medical care is improving, non-compliance rates are still high leading to a high rate of hospitalization. In other chronic illnesses, compliance has been explained by dimensions of the illness representation (as defined in the Common Sense Model [CSM] of Leventhal). However no such work has been done in genetic disorder nor have data been collected in SCD. Here we show that illness representation influences compliance. Analysis showed that three main factors of representation might have an influence on compliance in SCD and explain 29.2% of the variance. The emotional representation (emotional perception of SCD), treatment control (perceived effectiveness of treatments) and timeline acute/chronic (perceived duration of illness) indicating that patients with negative emotions on SCD are less compliant and those who perceive the effectiveness of their treatment and SCD as a chronic disease are more compliant. Compliance in SCD appears to be influenced by illness representations in the CSM. This give us a theoretical background to understand adaptation to the SCD and to propose psychosocial interventions aiming at a better compliance in people with SCD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite the high comorbidity of anxiety and depression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS), little is known about their inter-relationships. Both involve emotional perturbations and the way in which emotions are processed is likely central to both. The aim of the current study was to explore relationships between the domains of mood, emotional processing and coping and to analyse how anxiety affects coping, emotional processing, emotional balance and depression in people with MS.Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire study involving 189 people with MS with a confirmed diagnosis of MS recruited from three French hospitals. Study participants completed a battery of questionnaires encompassing the following domains: i. anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)); ii. emotional processing (Emotional Processing Scale (EPS-25)); iii. positive and negative emotions (Positive and Negative Emotionality Scale (EPN-31)); iv. alexithymia (Bermond-Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire) and v. coping (Coping with Health Injuries and Problems-Neuro (CHIP-Neuro) questionnaire. Relationships between these domains were explored using path analysis.Results: Anxiety was a strong predictor of depression, in both a direct and indirect way, and our model explained 48% of the variance of depression. Gender and functional status (measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale) played a modest role. Non-depressed people with MS reported high levels of negative emotions and low levels of positive emotions. Anxiety also had an indirect impact on depression via one of the subscales of the Emotional Processing Scale ("Unregulated Emotion") and via negative emotions (EPN-31).Conclusions: This research confirms that anxiety is a vulnerability factor for depression via both direct and indirect pathways. Anxiety symptoms should therefore be assessed systematically and treated in order to lessen the likelihood of depression symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In dementia, cognitive and psychological disorders might interfere with maintaining social interactions. We have little information about the nature of these interactions of people with dementia in nursing homes. The aim of this study is to investigate social interactions between people with dementia and to validate an observation grid of them.Methods: Fifty-six institutionalized people with dementia took part in this study. Residents had not met beforehand and were divided into groups of four to six. Social behaviors were videotaped and analyzed by two independent raters with an observation grid measuring frequency of occurrence. The ethogram was the conceptual tool that became the Social Observation Behaviors Residents Index (SOBRI).Results: Two-thousand-six-hundred-seventy instances of behavior were collected. Behaviors directed at others represented 50.90% and self-centered behaviors 47.83%. No negative behaviors were observed. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to validate the SOBRI and showed two components of social behaviors that explained about 30.56% of the total variance: social interactions with other residents (18.36%) and with care staff (12.20%). The grid showed a good internal consistency with a Cronbach's α of 0.90 for the first component and 0.85 for the second one.Conclusions: The SOBRI presents robust psychometric validity. This pilot study indicates that people with dementia spontaneously interact with other residents. These results contradict the stigma of non-communication and the stereotypes about dementia. More studies and validations are needed to contribute to the knowledge of social interactions in dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Dementia can interfere with the maintenance of social interactions. The ability to participate in social interactions is one of the elements that enables good social health (Hubert et al., 2011), and having dementia does not automatically eliminates the person's opportunity to have good social health (Vernooij-Dassen and Jeon, 2016). We highlighted in a previous study that people with dementia who did not know each other interacted spontaneously when they were in a stimulating social interaction setting (Mabire et al., 2016). However, a lack of activity and social interaction in nursing homes is still a widespread issue (Harper Ice, 2002). Stimulation of social interactions is rarely used as an intervention and social interactions are seldomly used as social health related outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most frequent monogenic disease worldwide. Psychological and behavioural factors are often reported as playing a significant role in predicting SCD health outcomes. When focusing on adaptation to a specific health condition and its treatment, the Common Sense Model of Health and Illness (CSM) has proven to be of heuristic value. In other health conditions, illness outcomes are directly influenced by illness perception. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore the psychometric proprieties of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R)., Design: We performed a cross-sectional assessment on 517 adult patients with sickle cell disease and collected the results of 406 IPQ-R. With these data, we verified the factor structure of the Belief scale and proposed modifications to improve its fit to the data with a confirmatory factor analysis. In addition, we explored the factorial structure of the Causal attribution scale with an exploratory factor analysis., Results: The initial model showed poor fit with the data. After structural modifications, elimination of two items with a low loading (model 2), covariance added between items (model 3) and items reallocation (model 4), the last model proposed presented a correct fit with the data. Before doing this model specification, we reviewed and compiled the nine studies that explored the psychometric properties of the IPQ-R in order to highlight all the modifications made by the other authors who have adapted the IPQ-R to a specific population and to allow a comparison with our own modifications., Conclusion: Considering previous findings, this research suggests further work is needed on the structure of the dimensions of the IPQ-R., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s)., (© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Background: Fatigue is one of the most common and debilitating symptoms of multiple sclerosis (MS) and is the main reason why people with MS stop working early. The MS Society in the United Kingdom funded a randomized controlled trial of FACETS-a face-to-face group-based fatigue management program for people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS)-developed by members of the research team. Given the favorable trial results and to help with implementation, the MS Society supported the design and printing of the FACETS manual and materials and the national delivery of FACETS training courses (designed by the research team) for health care professionals (HCPs). By 2015 more than 1500 pwMS had received the FACETS program, but it is not available in all areas and a face-to-face format may not be suitable for, or appeal to, everyone. For these reasons, the MS Society funded a consultation to explore an alternative Web-based model of service delivery., Objective: The aim of this study was to gather views about a Web-based model of service delivery from HCPs who had delivered FACETS and from pwMS who had attended FACETS., Methods: Telephone consultations were undertaken with FACETS-trained HCPs who had experience of delivering FACETS (n=8). Three face-to-face consultation groups were held with pwMS who had attended the FACETS program: London (n=4), Liverpool (n=4), and Bristol (n=7). The interviews and consultation groups were digitally recorded and transcribed. A thematic analysis was undertaken to identify key themes. Toward the end of the study, a roundtable meeting was held to discuss outcomes from the consultation with representatives from the MS Society, HCPs, and pwMS., Results: Key challenges and opportunities of designing and delivering an integrated Web-based version of FACETS and maintaining user engagement were identified across 7 themes (delivery, online delivery, design, group, engagement, interactivity, and HCP relationships). Particularly of interest were themes related to replicating the group dynamics and the lack of high-quality solutions that would support the FACETS' weekly homework tasks and symptom monitoring and management., Conclusions: A minimum viable Web-based version of FACETS was suggested as the best starting point for a phased implementation, enabling a solution that could then be added to over time. It was also proposed that a separate study should look to create a free stand-alone digital toolkit focusing on the homework elements of FACETS. This study has commenced with a first version of the toolkit in development involving pwMS throughout the design and build stages to ensure a user-centered solution., (©Sarah Thomas, Andy Pulman, Peter Thomas, Sarah Collard, Nan Jiang, Huseyin Dogan, Angela Davies Smith, Susan Hourihan, Fiona Roberts, Paula Kersten, Keith Pretty, Jessica K Miller, Kirsty Stanley, Marie-Claire Gay. Originally published in JMIR Formative Research (http://formative.jmir.org), 22.05.2019.)