Date of Award

7-15-2010

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

F. Richard Ferraro

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease which can affect several areas of functioning including physical and psychological functioning. Many individuals experience difficulties with depression and neuropsychological capabilities. Additionally, social networks often appear to be impacted by the disease. Previous research has shown that some of the physical functioning as well as the depressive symptomatology in multiple sclerosis can be ameliorated by improvements in social support. The present study used archival data to explore the impact of social support on neuropsychological function in 112 adults with multiple sclerosis. It was found that higher levels of perceived social support correlated with improved neuropsychological functioning. However, the potential impact of depression in these analyses suggested the need for further examination using multiple analysis of variance. The results suggest that some aspects of neuropsychological functioning are related to high levels of social support. The implications of these results in terms of increasing interventions targeting social support and other future research possibilities are discussed.

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