Journal of

Background &Objective

As a progressive disease, multiple sclerosis is considered as one of the foremost and most common neurological disorders. Therefore, addressing the psychological issues and the impact of this disease on patients appears to be essential.This study was performed to investigate the relationship between psychological capitals and illness perception in patients with multiple sclerosis.

Methodology

This was a descriptive - cross-sectional study. In this study, 120 patients with multiple sclerosis were selected and studied from the MS Society of city of Ahwaz by using available sampling method. The data collection tools included two questionnaires, "Luthans Psychological Capital Questionnaire" and "Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire" (Boardbent, Petrie, Maine and Weinman, 2006), which were completed by patients. The SPSS, Ver. 19 software and statistical methods of Pearson correlation coefficient and stepwise regression were used for data analysis.

Results

The mean scores of psychological capitals (2.29 ± 16.39) and illness perception (1.03 ± 5.27) were calculated.Pearson correlation test showed a positive and meaningful correlation between the total score of psychological capitals and its components with the illness perception (P = 0.001). In regression results, among the psychological capitals components, the components of self-efficacy, optimism and resilience indicated the highest correlation with illness perception.