Impact of an Existential-Spiritual Intervention Compared with a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy on Quality of Life and Meaning in Life among Women with Multiple Sclerosis

摘要

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease that could aggressively affect patients’ quality of lifein most instances. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of an existential-spiritual psychotherapy with acognitive-behavioral therapy on quality of life and meaning in life in women with multiple sclerosis.Method: A convenience sample of 43 women with multiple sclerosis participated in this quasi-experimental study. Theywere randomly assigned into 3 groups: an existential-spiritual intervention, a cognitive-behavioral intervention, and thecontrol group. Participants were assessed for outcome measures (quality of life and meaning in life) at 3 points in time:pretest, posttest, and 5-months follow-up. The Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MSQOL-54) and the Meaning in LifeQuestionnaires (MLQ) were used as outcome measures. To compare outcomes among the study groups, repeatedmeasures analysis of variance was performed.Results: The results showed that while no difference was observed for the control group, scores for meaning in lifeimproved significantly for existential-spiritual intervention and cognitive-behavioral therapy (p = 0.027, p = 0.039). Also,both mental (p 0.001, p = 0.014) and physical (p = 0.001, p = 0.013) health dimensions of quality of life increasedsignificantly in the 2 intervention groups. However, the results indicated that women in the existential-spiritualintervention group showed greater improvement in some aspects of meaning in life (search for meaning) and quality oflife (role physical and role emotional, pain and energy) compared to women in the cognitive-behavioral interventiongroup. However, the latter group showed better improvements on 2 subscales (physical function and health distress).Conclusion: Both existential-spiritual and cognitive-behavioral interventions can improve quality of life and meaning inlife among women with multiple sclerosis. However, the findings suggest that although both interventions were effective,the existential-spiritual intervention resulted in more positive improvements in some aspects of meaning in life and qualityof life.