title: Making sense of illness or disability: the nature of sense making in multiple sclerosis (MS).
abstract: This study investigated sense making in multiple sclerosis (MS) and relations with illness, religious-spiritual beliefs and adjustment (life satisfaction, positive states of mind, depression, anxiety). Four hundred and eight persons with MS completed a questionnaire. Half the sample generated sense making explanations for their illness. Content analyses revealed 16 sense making themes. Participants who reported having a religious-spiritual belief were more likely to report sense making than those who did not have such a belief. Sense making was related to lower disability and disease severity and evidenced beneficial direct effects on positive adjustment outcomes and depression after controlling for illness and religious-spiritual belief.
authors: University of Queensland, Australia. kenp@psy.uq.edu.au.
authors: Kenneth I
authors: KI
authors: Pakenham
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011793:Queensland; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires