Resilience as a Moderator in the Relationship between Disability Related Stress and Community Participation in Individuals with Multiple Sclerosis

ABSTRACT

Resilience can be defined as one’s ability to maintain or return to relatively stable psychological and physical functioning despite stressful life events and adversity. For people with multiple sclerosis (MS), building resilience has been shown to contribute to enhanced positive rehabilitation and mental health outcomes. However, there is no literature examining the role of resilience influencing the relationship between disability-related stress and community participation in individuals with MS. The present study aimed to examine the moderating role of resilience between disability-related stress and community participation among people with MS. Our findings suggested that the effect of disability-related stress on community participation was influenced by resilience. Interventions targeting resilience may help individuals effectively cope with MS and increase community participation in meaningful life situations.

KEYWORDS:

• Resilience
• stress
• community participation
• multiple sclerosis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

Support for this research was provided by the University of Wisconsin–Madison, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education with funding from the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.