The Relationship Between Perceived Social Support With Depression, Anxiety, and Stress in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system. Psychological manifestations such as depression, anxiety and stress are common in patients with MS. Social support is involved in the well-being of patients with MS. This study aimed to assess the relation between perceived social support with depression, anxiety and stress in patients with MS. Methods: This descriptive correlation study was conducted on 240 patients with MS who refereed to MS center of Isfahan/Iran. Three questionnaires: the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21); social support, and demographic questionnaires were used to collect data. Data were analyzed with SPSS20 using descriptive and analytical statistics (Independent T test, One-way ANOVA, and Pearson correlation). Results: In the current study, the mean perceived social support was 27.35±9.06. The mean depression, anxiety, and stress were 14.96±5.42, 13.92±5.88, and 15.39±4.82, respectively. In addition, there was inverse correlation between social support with depression, and anxiety (P<0.01). Moreover, no significant relation was seen between social support with stress (p=0.21). Social support was a significant negative predictor that accounted for 11.8% of the variance in depression (R2=.118, P<.001) and 3.4% of the variance in anxiety (R2=.034, P=.002). Conclusion: According to the findings of this study, social support of patients with MS can be as one of the effective suggestions for decreasing depression, and anxiety.