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Background and objectives Determinants of psychosocial adjustment in newly diagnosed Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients include not only disease-related factors but also cognitive-behavioral factors. This study aimed to investigate the level of depression and anxiety symptoms and to examine the role of cognitive distortions in the development of depression and anxiety in newly diagnosed MS patients.
Methods 63 MS patients and 58 healthy controls 18–65 years of age were included. Hamilton Depression Scale (HAM-D), Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A), Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS), Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire (ATQ) were administered to the sample.
Results MS patients had significantly higher HAM-D and HAM-A scores (p < 0.05). HAM-D and HAM-A scale scores were correlated with each other in the MS patients group (p < 0.05). ATQ scores were significantly higher in the MS group than healthy controls (p < 0.01). HAM-D and HAM-A scores were also both correlated with ATQ and DAS scores in MS patients group (p < 0.05). There is a statistically significant difference for marital status and ATQ scores between the MS patients group with significant depressive symptoms (according to HAM-D cut off point above 17) and those without significant depressive symptoms (p < 0.05). ATQ is the only independent variable that predicts the depression levels (OR = 1.12 CI = 1.068–1.176; p < 0.001) in stepwise regression analysis. The overall disclosure percentage of the model to 52%.
Conclusions Automatic thoughts are a vulnerability factor for the development of depressive symptoms in newly diagnosed MS patients. Psychological stress affects not only MS patients with advanced-stage but also newly diagnosed MS patients.
