Coping Strategies Associated with High Quality of Life in People Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis: An Intagrative Literature Review

Background: People suffering from Multiple Sclerosis (MS) face many challenges including physical disability, financial strain, and cognitive changes. While the coping mechanisms used to address these stressors can greatly impact one’s quality of life, limited studies are conducted to understand positive coping strategies used by this population.

Objectives: The purpose of this integrative literature review was to examine the types of coping strategies that have a positive impact on quality of life in individuals diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

Methods: An integrative literature review was conducted. The keywords “coping, coping strategies, quality of life, multiple sclerosis, and MS” were used to search the literature between 1998 and 2016.

Results: Emotion focused coping and problem focused coping positively affected quality of life. Successful emotion focused strategies included obtaining social support, stopping unpleasant emotions, maintaining a positive attitude, acceptance, and emotional release. Successful problem focused strategies included changing the situation or source of stress in some way, flexible goal adjustment, and goal pursuit

Conclusions: This study discovered which coping mechanisms lead to high quality of life in people diagnosed with MS. Learning these positive coping strategies can help individuals effectively manage the stressors that accompany the disease