The Effectiveness of Compassion-Focused Therapy on Pain Catastrophizing, Sexual Function, and Resilience in Women with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

The present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy on pain catastrophizing, sexual function, and resilience in women with Multiple Sclerosis (MS).
The method of the present research was semi-experimental and its design was pre-test-post-test with a control group. The study's statistical population included patients with MS in Tehran in 2022. Among the eligible patients, 30 women with MS were randomly assigned to the intervention group (n=15), and the control group (n=15). The collection tools included pain catastrophizing (Sullivan et al. 1995), women's sexual function (Isidori et al. 2010), and resilience (Connor and Davidson, 2003) questionnaires. The intervention group received eight sessions of 90-minute therapy focused on compassion, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Finally, the obtained data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance by SPSS-24.
The results showed that compassion-focused therapy significantly reduces rumination (39.87), magnification (53.14), helplessness (35.42), sexual function (20.27), and resilience (17.65) in women with MS (P<0.001).
The findings of this research indicated the effectiveness of compassion-focused therapy on women with MS. Since women experienced many problems during MS, it is necessary to take measures to improve their mental and physical health.