Objective
The current study aimed at exploring posttraumatic growth and its relationship with cognitive emotion regulation strategies among a group of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Shiraz, Iran.
Methods
The convenience sampling method was employed to recruit 92 patients diagnosed with MS from the MS society in Shiraz in 2014. Two research questionnaires including Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) were completed by the participants. The Spearman correlation coefficient and stepwise regression analysis were used to analyze the data with SPSS version 16.
Results
The findings showed that a majority of patients with MS experienced some degree of posttraumatic growth. The participants scored high on satisfaction with life followed by spiritual change, personal strength, new possibilities, and relating to others. With regard to cognitive emotion regulation variables, only reappraisal (P<0.002) and positive refocusing (P<0.001) significantly predicted posttraumatic growth.
Conclusion
The current study demonstrated that patients who used positive refocusing and reappraisal were more likely to experience posttraumatic growth.