Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for the Management of Multiple Sclerosis–Related Pain
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Pain is a common and often debilitating symptom in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). Besides interfering with daily functioning, pain in MS is associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety. Although cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for pain has been found to be an effective treatment in other populations, there has been a dearth of research in persons with MS. METHODS: Persons with MS with at least moderate pain severity (N = 20) were randomly assigned to one of two groups: CBT plus standard care or MS-related education plus standard care, each of which met for 12 sessions. Changes in pain severity, pain interference, and depressive symptom severity from baseline to 15-week follow-up were assessed using a 2×2 factorial design. Participants also rated their satisfaction with their treatment and accomplishment of personally meaningful behavioral goals. RESULTS: Both treatment groups rated their treatment satisfaction as very high and their behavioral goals as largely met, although only the CBT plus standard care group's mean goal accomplishment ratings represented significant improvement. Although there were no significant differences between groups after treatment on the three primary outcomes, there was an overall improvement over time for pain severity, pain interference, and depressive symptom severity. CONCLUSIONS: Cognitive behavioral therapy or education-based programs may be helpful adjunctive treatments for persons with MS experiencing pain.
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In the traditional CBT model, anxiety is a key target, and other positive effects (including less IU) may occur incidentally during the intervention.
“For example, in the traditional CBT model, anxiety is a key target, and other positive effects (including less IU) may occur incidentally during the intervention.”
From The effectiveness of group intervention focused on intolerance of uncertainty on psychological distress and quality of life in multiple sclerosis patients (2023) · cites this paper as [16]
The Methods describe a CBT protocol tailored to MS-related pain, while the Results report pain and depressive symptoms. Searches for anxiety as a CBT treatment target and for intolerance of uncertainty (IU) found no passage addressing whether IU might improve incidentally. The paper therefore does not verify the attributed account of the traditional CBT model. (LLM, conf=0.76)
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References 42 · Cited by 34
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- Namerow NS. Multiple sclerosis and pain. In: Geisser BS, ed. Primer on Multiple Sclerosis. Oxford University Press; 2011:275–288.
- Finkelstein J, Lapshin O, Castro H, Cha E, Provance PG. Home-based physical telerehabilitation in patients with multiple sclerosis: a pilot study. J Rehabil Res Dev. 2008;45:1361–1373.
- Authors
- Gromisch, E. S., Kerns, R. D., Czlapinski, R., Beenken, B., Otis, J., Lo, A. C., & Beauvais, J.
- Venue
- International Journal of MS Care
- Published
- 2020-01-01
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 8-14
- ISSN
- 1537-2073 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7041614
- OpenAlex
- W2910342037
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 3
- FWCI
- 3.31
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of MS Care (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- OpenBU (Boston University) (acceptedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pathology and Forensic Medicine › Multiple Sclerosis Research Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Keywords
- cognitive behavioral therapy, multiple sclerosis, pain management, pain interference, depressive symptoms, anxiety, patient education, treatment satisfaction, behavioral objectives, adjunctive therapy
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