A Positive Psychology Intervention for People With New Diagnoses of Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial

The period surrounding the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is physically and emotionally challenging. Positive psychology (PP) exercises (ie, systematic activities to cultivate well-being) have been shown to increase positive emotional responses, such as positive affect, and may aid in psychosocial adjustment to MS.

Participants were randomly asigned 1:1 to a 5-week, at-home, self-directed PP intervention or a waitlist control condition. The PP intervention consisted of 5 previously tested PP exercises. Feasibility was defined as the proportion of participants who completed at least 4 of the 5 PP exercises. Acceptability was determined by participant ratings of ease and utility (0-10 scale) reported at the completion of each exercise. The effects of the PP intervention on a battery of patient-reported outcome measures were also examined using linear mixed-effects models.

Thirty participants were enrolled in the study, and 70% met the a priori threshold for feasibility. Mean ease scores across the exercises ranged from 7.0 to 7.9 (scale of 0-10), and mean utility scores ranged from 7.0 to 8.1. There were statistically significant increases in positive affect (6.68; 95% CI, 2.58-10.78; P = .003) and optimism (3.03; 95% CI, 0.75-5.31; P = .01) in the intervention group compared with the waitlist control group at 5 weeks.

A 5-week at-home self-directed PP intervention was feasible and acceptable to individuals with new diagnoses of MS. Larger trials with longer follow-up are needed to fully understand the benefits of PP training to improve adjustment to MS diagnosis, which may lead to better psychosocial and health outcomes.