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. 2022 Jan-Dec:13:21501319221119142.
doi: 10.1177/21501319221119142.

Psychosocial Impact of Multiple Sclerosis on Couples: Relationship Between Anxiety, Depression, and Stress Communication of Both Partners

Ada-Katrin Busch  1   2 , André Fringer  1
Affiliations

Psychosocial Impact of Multiple Sclerosis on Couples: Relationship Between Anxiety, Depression, and Stress Communication of Both Partners

Ada-Katrin Busch et al. J Prim Care Community Health. 2022 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) influences the relationships of affected couples, whereby the disease-related stress can lead to a deterioration of communication. This, in turn, makes it difficult for the couples to cope successfully. To support couples affected by MS for coping with the disease, the first step in developing an intervention is to examine whether this situation also applies in the Swiss context.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the psychosocial situation of couples where 1 partner has MS, regarding anxiety, depression, and stress communication. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales (HADS-D) were used to assess depression and anxiety in both partners of 462 couples, while their stress communication was assessed using questions formulated according to the corresponding subscales of the Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI). A comparison of the assessments of both partners was performed using the Mann-Whitney U test. Furthermore, the relationship between their stress communication and the severity of anxiety and depression was calculated using Spearman's rank correlation.

Results: Life partners rated the stress communication of their partners with MS significantly higher than the partners with MS themselves. Moreover, life partners could not distinguish whether their partners with MS expressed a sense of burden or a need for support. These findings indicate that the stress communication skills of both partners show potential for optimization. Health status regarding depression and anxiety revealed the following: 34.2% of the persons with MS and 34% of their life partners experienced clinically high levels of anxiety (HADS-D/A ≥ 8.0), and 31.4% of those with MS and 20.2% of the life partners showed clinically high levels of depression (HADS-D/D ≥ 8.0).

Conclusion: In the Swiss context, psychosocial intervention, which includes communication training for both partners, might be effective in improving the health status regarding depression and anxiety as well as the stress communication.

Keywords: anxiety; communication; couples; depression; development of intervention; multiple sclerosis.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Items on self-assessment and external assessment of stress expression. *Included in the questionnaire of the person with MS as well as in the questionnaire of the life partner. **Included in the questionnaire of the life partner.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Self- and external assessments of stress expression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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