Processes of Sharing and Relating of Women With Multiple Sclerosis Through a Group Psychological Intervention: A Longitudinal Qualitative Study

Purpose:
Relationships are important for people with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Social support contributes to well-being, and psychological group interventions show positive findings on quality of life, coping, and self-efficacy. The current article aims to report sharing and relating processes in an online group integrative psychological intervention named MyMS-Ally that contributed to positive change in five women with MS who participated in the study.

Methods:
This study followed the principles of Longitudinal Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (LIPA). Five women living with MS participated in an 8-week online integrative psychological intervention group. Qualitative data were collected at three different time points: before the start of the intervention, post-intervention, and at the 3-month follow-up. The findings presented here are part of a mixed-method feasibility and acceptability study for the MyMS-Ally intervention.

Results:
The longitudinal group experiential theme ‘transitioning from concealing MS to embracing its relational effect’ was developed to capture the changes participants experienced in their relationships with people with and without MS following their engagement with the MyMS-Ally intervention. From the point of hiding their symptoms and needs, they became more open to communication in their relationships. The temporal changes of the five participants were grouped under the three time points.

Discussion:
The findings demonstrate the pathways participants went through towards sharing and relating with their MS and the group processes they found most impactful. Processes were deemed more important than the psychological techniques employed during the intervention. Implications for the development of group psychological interventions for people living with MS and their evaluations are also discussed.