Effectiveness of Online Compassion-Focused Group Therapy on Depression, Anxiety and Chronic Fatigue Severity of Multiple Sclerosis in Female Patients
International Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences,
Vol. 8 No. 2 (2021),
18 Tir 2021
,
Page 46-56
https://doi.org/10.22037/ijabs.v8i2.32606
Abstract
Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (M.S) is the most common debilitating disease that also affects the
physical, mental, and social functioning of patients. The aim of this study was to evaluate the
effectiveness of online compassion therapy on depression, anxiety and chronic fatigue severity in
female patients with multiple sclerosis.
Method: The present study was a pre-test, post-test applied and experimental study with a control
group. The sample consisted of 30 patients with multiple sclerosis living in Shiraz in 2020 who
were selected by convenience sampling method. They randomly divided into experimental and
control groups. Participants were tested on the Depression, Anxiety, and Chronic Fatigue Scales,
and an online compassion-based treatment plan was presented to the experimental group in 8 twohour sessions. Descriptive statistics and covariance test were used to analyze the data.
Result: Patients showed a significant improvement in the severity of symptoms in all three
variables. The results showed a significant difference in depression, anxiety and chronic fatigue
severity scores between the groups at posttest (P <0.001).
Conclusion: Online CFT can be used as an effective therapy to improve mental disorders and
mental health of MS patients in case of evidence for proof of effectiveness of CFT. So, online
compassion-focused group therapy can reduce the negative psychological consequences of people
with multiple sclerosis by reducing negative emotions and increasing a person's attention to
improving their condition.
Declaration of Interest: None
- Compassion-Focused therapy, Depression, Anxiety, Chronic fatigue severity, Multiple sclerosis
How to Cite
References
- Dobson R & Giovannoni G. Multiple sclerosis–a review. Eur. J. Neurol. 2019;26(1): 27-40.
- Malygin VL, Boyko AN, Konovalova OE,Iskandirova AS, Dumbrova EV, Boyko OV, Malygin YV. Influence of
psychopathological factors and personality traits on the results of the study of quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis. Zh Nevrol Psikhiatr Im S S Korsakova. 2019; 119 (2): 42-8.
- Hashemi L, Rahimi C, Mohamadi N, Ashjazadeh N. The effectiveness of psychological intervention on multiple
sclerosis patients’ subjective well-being. J Appl Behav Sci. 2018;3(4):18-25.
- Hashemi L, Rahimi C, Mohammadi N. The Effectiveness of Quality of Life Therapy on Depression and Anxiety among Patients with Multiple Sclerosis. J Appl Behav Sci. 2018; 5(4): 1-9.
- Kotan VO, Kotan Z, Aydin B, Taskapilioglu Ö, Alkan B, Özkaya G, Sarandöl A, Turan ÖF, Kırlı S. The
relationship between psychopathology,psychosocial adjustment, social support and quality of life in multiple sclerosis. Eur. J. Res. 2019; 5(1):20-8.
- Farmani F, Taghavi H, Fatemi A, Safavi S. The efficacy of group reality therapy on reducing stress, anxiety and depression in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). J Appl Behav Sci. 2015; 2(4): 33-8.
- Holland DP, Schlüter DK, Young CA, Mills RJ, Rog DJ, Ford HL, Orchard K. Use of coping strategies in multiple
sclerosis: Association with demographic and disease-related characteristics. Mult Scler. 2019; 27: 214-22.
- Nyland M, Naess H, Lode K, Figved N, Nyland H. Disability and risk factors for unemployment in chronic fatigue
syndrome: a comparison with multiple sclerosis. Fatigue: biomedicine, health &behavior. 2019; 7(3):127-40.
- Bakhshipour B & Ramezanzadeh S. Investigating the effect of mindfulnessbased cognitive therapy (MBCT) on
depression, quality of life, and anxiety in MS patients. Stud Med Sci. 2016;27(5):352-64.
- Nasiri M, Hosseini H, Sakhaei Y, Tabrizi N, YazdaniCherati J, Abedini M. Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders in
Patients with Multiple Sclerosis in Mazandaran, Iran. J Mazandaran Univ Med Sci. 2016; 26 (140) :60-70.
- Davoodi M, Shameli L, Hadianfard H. The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Pain Perception in People with Multiple Sclerosis. IJPCP. 2019; 25 (3) :250-265.
- Chertcoff A, Curbelo MC, Bauer J, Ferrandina F, Martinez A, Steinberg J, Carrá A. Anxiety in Argentinian patients with multiple sclerosis: Prevalence and associated factors. Mult Scler. 2020:1020-42.
- Ennis M, Webster S. Living with fatigue:Fatigue management for people with MS.Multiple Sclerosis Trust. 2015.
- Manjaly ZM, Harrison NA, Critchley HD, Do CT, Stefanics G, Wenderoth N,Lutterotti A, Müller A, Stephan KE.
Pathophysiological and cognitive mechanisms of fatigue in multiple sclerosis.J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2019;90(6):642-51.
- Dortaj A, Moghadasi AN, Dehkordi MA,Alipour A. The Comparison of the Effectiveness of Cognitive-Behavioral
Stress Management Training and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy on Interleukin 12 in patients with Multiple Sclerosis. J Appl Behav Sci. 2019;6(4):39- 50.
- Hugos CL, Chen Z, Chen Y, Turner AP, Haselkorn J, Chiara T, McCoy S, Bever Jr CT, Cameron MH, Bourdette D, VA MS Fatigue Study Group. A multicenter randomized controlled trial of two group education programs for fatigue in multiple sclerosis: Short-and medium-term benefits.Mult Scler. 2019; 25(2): 275-85.
- Ehde DM, Alschuler KN, Day MA, Ciol MA, Kaylor ML, Altman JK, Jensen MP. Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy for chronic pain in multiple sclerosis: a randomized controlled trial protocol. Trials. 2019; 20(1):774.
- Zade ZN, Mojtabaee M. Effectiveness of Self-Compassion Focused Therapy on reducing of function of self-harm behaviors in Juvenile offenders of Tehran Juvenile Correction and Rehabilitation Center. J Appl Behav Sci. 2017; 3(3): 30-8.
- Gilbert P, Plata G. Compassion focused therapy. Junfermann Verlag GmbH; 2013.
- Gilbert P. Compassion focused therapy: A special section. Int J Cogn Ther. 2010.
- Frostadottir AD, Dorjee D. Effects of mindfulness based cognitive therapy (MBCT) and compassion focused therapy (CFT) on symptom change, mindfulness,self-compassion, and rumination in clients with depression, anxiety, and stress. Front. Psychol. 2019; 10:1099.
- Sommers-Spijkerman MP, Trompetter HR, Schreurs KM, Bohlmeijer ET. Compassionfocused therapy as guided self-help for enhancing public mental health: A randomized controlled trial. JConsult Clin Psychol. 2018; 86(2): 101.
- Salimi A, Arsaladeh F, Zahrakar K, et al. The effectiveness of Compassion-Based therapy on anxiety and depression (mental health) in women with multiple sclerosis. Horizon Med Sci. 2018; 24(2): 125-31.
- Foroutan M, Nejat H, Toozandehjani H. Comparing the Effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy and
Dialectical Behavior Therapy on Distress Tolerance and Pain Management in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Int J Middle East Stud. 2020; 10 :30.
- Phillips WJ, Hine DW. Self-compassion,physical health, and health behaviour: a meta-analysis. Health Psychol. Rev. 2021; 15(1): 113-39.
- Andersson G. Internet interventions: past, present and future. Internet interventions. 2018; 12: 181-8.
- Schuster R, Topooco N, Keller A, Radvogin E, Laireiter AR. Advantages and disadvantages of online and blended therapy: Replication and extension of findings on psychotherapists' appraisals.Internet Interv. 2020:100326.
- Kooistra LC, Wiersma JE, Ruwaard J,Neijenhuijs K, Lokkerbol J, van Oppen P,Smit F, Riper H. Cost and effectiveness of blended versus standard cognitive behavioral therapy for outpatients with depression in routine specialized mental health care: Pilot randomized controlled trial. Journal of medical Internet research.2019; 21(10): e14261.
- Zwerenz R, Baumgarten C, Becker J, Tibubos A, Siepmann M, Knickenberg RJ, Beutel ME. Improving the course of depressive symptoms after inpatient psychotherapy using adjunct web-based self-help: follow-up results of a randomized controlled trial. J. Med. Internet Res. 2019; 21(10): e13655.
- Titov N, Hadjistavropoulos HD, Nielssen O, Mohr DC, Andersson G, Dear BF. From research to practice: ten lessons in delivering digital mental health services. J. Clin. Med. 2019; 8(8):1239.
- Vis C, Mol M, Kleiboer A, Bührmann L, Finch T, Smit J, Riper H. Improving implementation of eMental health for mood disorders in routine practice: systematic review of barriers and facilitating factors. JMIR mental health. 2018; 5(1): e20.
- Krieger T, Martig DS, van den Brink E, Berger T. Working on self-compassion online: A proof of concept and feasibility study. Internet Interv. 2016; 6:64-70.
- Krieger T, Reber F, von Glutz B, Urech A, Moser CT, Schulz A, Berger T. An internet-based compassion-focused
intervention for increased self-criticism: A randomized controlled trial. Behavior therapy. 2019; 50(2): 430-45.
- Finlay-Jones A, Boyes M, Perry Y, Sirois F, Lee R, Rees C. Online self-compassion training to improve the wellbeing of youth with chronic medical conditions: protocol for a randomised control trial. BMC public
health. 2020; 20(1): 1-10. 35- Eriksson T, Germundsjö L, Åström E, Rönnlund M. Mindful self-compassion training reduces stress and burnout symptoms among practicing psychologists: A randomized controlled trial of a brief
web-based intervention. Front. Psychol. 2018; 9:2340.
- Steer RA, Beck AT, Modifying the Beck, AT. Modifying the Beck Depression Inventory: A reply to Vredenburg, Krames &Flett. Psychol. Rep. 1985; 57: 625-626.
- Beck AT, Steer RA. The Beck Anxiety Inventory manual. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation: 1990.
- Krupp LB, Serafin DJ, Christodoulou C. Multiple sclerosis-associated fatigue. Expert Rev Neurother. 2010;10(9):1437-47.
- Ghassemzadeh, H., Mojtabai, R., Karamghadiri, N., &Ebrahimkhani, N. Psychometric properties of a Persianlanguage version of the Beck Depression Inventory second edition: BDI-Persian. Depress. Anxiety. 2005; 21: 185–192.
- Kaviani H., Mousavi A.S. Psychometric properties of the Persian version of Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). Tehran Univ.Med. J. 2008; 65 (2): 136-140.
- BasakNejad S, Rahimi H, Zargar Y,MajdiNasab N. The effect of cognitivebehavioral stress management training on chronic fatigue and coping styles in patients with multiple sclerosis. Mod Care J. 2013;
(3): 165-172.
- Abstract Viewed: 140 times
- PDF Downloaded: 278 times