Impact of Resilience, Social Support, and Personality Traits in Patients with Neuroinflammatory Diseases During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Overview

Journal Mult Scler Relat Disord

Specialty Neurology

Date 2022 Oct 25

PMID 36283322

Authors

Dejan Jakimovski

Katelyn S Kavak

Erin E Longbrake

Elle Levit

Christopher M Perrone

Amit Bar-Or

Ralph Hb Benedict

Claire S Riley

Philip L De Jager

Shruthi Venkatesh

Elizabeth L S Walker

Zongqi Xia

Bianca Weinstock-Guttman

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background And Objective: The COVID-19 pandemic negatively impacted the well-being of persons with neuroinflammatory diseases (pwNID). Identifying factors that influence the response to challenging conditions could guide supportive care.

Methods: 2185 pwNID and 1079 healthy controls (HCs) from five US centers completed an online survey regarding the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on physical and psychological well-being. Survey instruments included resilience (Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, CD-RISC), loneliness (UCLA Loneliness Scale), social support (modified social support survey, MSSS-5), personality traits (NEO-Five Factor Inventory, NEO-FFI), and disability (Patient-Determined Disability Steps (PDDS). Step-wise regression models and mediation analyses assessed whether the level of self-reported resilience, size of the social support, and specific personality traits (study predictors) were associated with self-reported disability and/or loneliness (study outcomes).

Results: The response rate varied significantly between the questionnaires. While, all pwNID completed the demographic questionnaire, 78.8% completed the loneliness questionnaire and 49.7% completed the NEO-FFI. Based on 787 responses, greater neuroticism (standardized β = 0.312, p < 0.001), less social support (standardized β = -0.242, p < 0.001), lower extraversion (standardized β = -0.083, p=0.017), lower agreeableness (standardized β = -0.119, p < 0.001), and lower resilience (standardized β = -0.125, p = 0.002) were associated with the feeling of loneliness. Social support and resilience modestly but significantly mediated the association between personality traits and loneliness. Older age (standardized β = 0.165, p < 0.001) and lower conscientiousness (standardized β = -0.094, p = 0.007) were associated with worse disability (higher PDDS scores). There were no differences in outcomes between pwNID and HCs.

Conclusion: Greater social support potentially attenuates the association between neuroticism and the feeling of loneliness in pwNID during the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessment of personality traits may identify pwNID that are in greater need of social support and guide targeted interventions.

Citing Articles

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Personal Networks and Neurological Outcomes of People With Multiple Sclerosis: Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Case-Control Study.

Riley C, Venkatesh S, Dhand A, Doshi N, Kavak K, Levit E JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2024; 10():e45429.

PMID: 38319703 PMC: 10879979. DOI: 10.2196/45429.

References

Swanepoel I, Van Staden W, Fletcher L . Psychological Resilience and Vulnerability as Mediators Between Adverse Life Events and Fatigue, Motor Dysfunction, and Paresthesia in Multiple Sclerosis. Psychosom Med. 2019; 82(2):138-146. DOI: 10.1097/PSY.0000000000000770. View

Kever A, Walker E, Riley C, Heyman R, Xia Z, Leavitt V . Association of personality traits with physical function, cognition, and mood in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2022; 59:103648. PMC: 8986589. DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2022.103648. View

Klineova S, Brandstadter R, Fabian M, Sand I, Krieger S, Leavitt V . Psychological resilience is linked to motor strength and gait endurance in early multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2019; 26(9):1111-1120. PMC: 6898764. DOI: 10.1177/1352458519852725. View

Abdellaoui A, Chen H, Willemsen G, Ehli E, Davies G, Verweij K . Associations between loneliness and personality are mostly driven by a genetic association with Neuroticism. J Pers. 2018; 87(2):386-397. PMC: 6231981. DOI: 10.1111/jopy.12397. View

Ikizer G, Kowal M, Aldemir I, Jeftic A, Memisoglu-Sanli A, Najmussaqib A . Big Five traits predict stress and loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence for the role of neuroticism. Pers Individ Dif. 2022; 190:111531. PMC: 8786633. DOI: 10.1016/j.paid.2022.111531. View

Fuchs T, Benedict R, Wilding G, Wojcik C, Jakimovski D, Bergsland N . Trait Conscientiousness predicts rate of brain atrophy in multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2019; 26(11):1433-1436. DOI: 10.1177/1352458519858605. View

Silverman A, Molton I, Alschuler K, Ehde D, Jensen M . Resilience predicts functional outcomes in people aging with disability: a longitudinal investigation. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2015; 96(7):1262-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.apmr.2015.02.023. View

Giovannetti A, Solari A, Pakenham K . Effectiveness of a group resilience intervention for people with multiple sclerosis delivered frontline services. Disabil Rehabil. 2021; 44(22):6582-6592. DOI: 10.1080/09638288.2021.1960441. View

Schwartz E, Chapman B, Duberstein P, Weinstock-Guttman B, Benedict R . The NEO-FFI in Multiple Sclerosis: internal consistency, factorial validity, and correspondence between self and informant reports. Assessment. 2010; 18(1):39-49. PMC: 2953584. DOI: 10.1177/1073191110368482. View

10.

Levin S, Riley C, Dhand A, White C, Venkatesh S, Boehm B . Association of social network structure and physical function in patients with multiple sclerosis. Neurology. 2020; 95(11):e1565-e1574. PMC: 7713741. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000010460. View

11.

Claflin S, Klekociuk S, Campbell J, Bessing B, Palmer A, van der Mei I . Association between MS-related knowledge, health literacy, self-efficacy, resilience, and quality of life in a large cohort of MS community members: A cross-sectional study. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2021; 54:103158. DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2021.103158. View

12.

Kroencke L, Geukes K, Utesch T, Kuper N, Back M . Neuroticism and emotional risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Res Pers. 2020; 89:104038. PMC: 7550263. DOI: 10.1016/j.jrp.2020.104038. View

13.

Levit E, Cohen I, Dahl M, Edwards K, Weinstock-Guttman B, Ishikawa T . Worsening physical functioning in patients with neuroinflammatory disease during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2022; 58:103482. PMC: 8742609. DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2021.103482. View

14.

Peerenboom L, Collard R, Naarding P, Comijs H . The association between depression and emotional and social loneliness in older persons and the influence of social support, cognitive functioning and personality: A cross-sectional study. J Affect Disord. 2015; 182:26-31. DOI: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.04.033. View

15.

Reguera-Garcia M, Liebana-Presa C, Alvarez-Barrio L, Alves Gomes L, Fernandez-Martinez E . Physical Activity, Resilience, Sense of Coherence and Coping in People with Multiple Sclerosis in the Situation Derived from COVID-19. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020; 17(21). PMC: 7664264. DOI: 10.3390/ijerph17218202. View

16.

Shokrkon A, Nicoladis E . How personality traits of neuroticism and extroversion predict the effects of the COVID-19 on the mental health of Canadians. PLoS One. 2021; 16(5):e0251097. PMC: 8133466. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251097. View

17.

Benedict R, Priore R, Miller C, Munschauer F, Jacobs L . Personality disorder in multiple sclerosis correlates with cognitive impairment. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2001; 13(1):70-6. DOI: 10.1176/jnp.13.1.70. View

18.

Jokela M, Batty G, Nyberg S, Virtanen M, Nabi H, Singh-Manoux A . Personality and all-cause mortality: individual-participant meta-analysis of 3,947 deaths in 76,150 adults. Am J Epidemiol. 2013; 178(5):667-75. PMC: 3755650. DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwt170. View

19.

Fuchs T, Schoonheim M, Broeders T, Hulst H, Weinstock-Guttman B, Jakimovski D . Functional network dynamics and decreased conscientiousness in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol. 2021; 269(5):2696-2706. DOI: 10.1007/s00415-021-10860-8. View

20.

Beal C, Stuifbergen A . Loneliness in women with multiple sclerosis. Rehabil Nurs. 2007; 32(4):165-71. DOI: 10.1002/j.2048-7940.2007.tb00171.x. View