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BMC Neurology
Published in: BMC Neurology 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research article

Anxiety, emotional processing and depression in people with multiple sclerosis

Authors: Marie-Claire Gay, Catherine Bungener, Sarah Thomas, Pierre Vrignaud, Peter W Thomas, Roger Baker, Sébastien Montel, Olivier Heinzlef, Caroline Papeix, Rana Assouad, Michèle Montreuil

Published in: BMC Neurology | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

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.
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Metadata
Title
Anxiety, emotional processing and depression in people with multiple sclerosis
Authors
Marie-Claire Gay
Catherine Bungener
Sarah Thomas
Pierre Vrignaud
Peter W Thomas
Roger Baker
Sébastien Montel
Olivier Heinzlef
Caroline Papeix
Rana Assouad
Michèle Montreuil
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Neurology / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1471-2377
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12883-017-0803-8

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