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Supporting Mental Health in Daily Life After the Diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis

Study Purpose

The overall goal of this observational study is to learn about the psychological resources of mindfulness and flow experience available to persons newly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). The primary study aim will be to analyze the relation of flow and mindfulness with mental health among individuals who received an MS diagnosis within the last year. Secondary aims will be to analyze the daily activities preferentially associated with flow, and to evaluate possible changes in daily flow retrieval. Participants will answer questionnaires measuring flow, mindfulness, positive mental health, anxiety and depression at project start and 6 months later.

Recruitment Criteria

Accepts Healthy Volunteers Healthy volunteers are participants who do not have a disease or condition, or related conditions or symptoms	No
Study Type An interventional clinical study is where participants are assigned to receive one or more interventions (or no intervention) so that researchers can evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or health-related outcomes. An observational clinical study is where participants identified as belonging to study groups are assessed for biomedical or health outcomes. Searching Both is inclusive of interventional and observational studies.	Observational
Eligible Ages	18 Years - 50 Years
Gender	All

More Inclusion & Exclusion Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

- age 18-50.

- clinically-definite MS diagnosed (with McDonald's revised criteria) within the previous 12 months.

- steroid treatment for at least 1 month.

- written informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

- neurological disorders other than MS.

- psychiatric disorders.

- severe physical impairment (EDSS=>8) - pregnancy.

- current or previous attendance in Mindfulness Based Interventions or Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

- severe cognitive impairment in comprehension, attention and execution of inferential-logical operations which could interfere with the ability to fill in questionnaires (equivalent scores 0-1 at Progressive Raven Matrices; score <11.3 at the visual comprehension of sentences subtest of the Aphasia Neuropsychological Test; score <37.9 at Symbol Digit Modalities Test; and score <93.1 at the Brief Test of Intelligence)

Trial Details

Trial ID: This trial id was obtained from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, providing information on publicly and privately supported clinical studies of human participants with locations in all 50 States and in 196 countries.	NCT06403631
Phase Phase 1: Studies that emphasize safety and how the drug is metabolized and excreted in humans. Phase 2: Studies that gather preliminary data on effectiveness (whether the drug works in people who have a certain disease or condition) and additional safety data. Phase 3: Studies that gather more information about safety and effectiveness by studying different populations and different dosages and by using the drug in combination with other drugs. Phase 4: Studies occurring after FDA has approved a drug for marketing, efficacy, or optimal use.
Lead Sponsor The sponsor is the organization or person who oversees the clinical study and is responsible for analyzing the study data.	Marta Bassi
Principal Investigator The person who is responsible for the scientific and technical direction of the entire clinical study.	N/A
Principal Investigator Affiliation	N/A
Agency Class Category of organization(s) involved as sponsor (and collaborator) supporting the trial.	Other
Overall Status	Recruiting
Countries	Italy
Conditions The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied.	Multiple Sclerosis

Additional Details

The period following Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis is extremely important to identify and mobilize psychological resources that can support mental health, help cope with challenges, and lead to disease acceptance. Capitalizing on previous studies attesting to the crucial role of attentional skills in disease adjustment, the overall goal of this project is to jointly investigate flow experience and mindfulness as potential resources supporting mental health among newly diagnosed persons. While mindfulness has been widely investigated in relation to MS, flow has been rarely explored. Both constructs are rewarding mental states involving focused attention on the present moment and perceived control over the situation. Yet, they also present relevant differences. Mindfulness is characterized by reflective awareness, while flow by loss of selfconsciousness. Mindfulness can generate initial heightened unpleasant feelings, and its cultivation requires constant practice; instead, flow does not require intensive training and it is reported in association with ordinary daily situations and activities. In light of these differences, it may be suitable to promote flow, or a combination of flow and mindfulness, at the initial stages of MS, as newly diagnosed persons require immediate psychological support and need to find a sense of continuity in life. The primary study aim will be to analyze the relation of flow and mindfulness with mental health among individuals who received an MS diagnosis within the last year. Secondary aims will be to analyze the daily activities preferentially associated with flow, and to evaluate possible changes in daily flow retrieval. Data will be gathered longitudinally from participants recruited in MS centers across Italy. Participants will fill in online questionnaires measuring flow, mindfulness, positive mental health, anxiety and depression. The questionnaires, including both scaled and open-ended questions, will be proposed at the project start (T1) and 6 months later (T2). Hierarchical regressions and qualitative analyses will be conducted to assess study aims. Both flow and mindfulness are expected to independently contribute to participants' mental health. However, considering its usual occurrence in daily contexts, flow is expected to provide a more relevant contribution than mindfulness, and to play a moderating role in the relation between mindfulness and mental health. The investigators also expect that participants will primarily retrieve flow in productive and leisure activities, and that fewer participants would find flow occasions in their daily life after the diagnosis.

Contact a Trial Team

If you are interested in learning more about this trial, find the trial site nearest to your location and contact the site coordinator via email or phone. We also strongly recommend that you consult with your healthcare provider about the trials that may interest you and refer to our terms of service below.