Middle Eastern Journal of Disability Studies

Abstract
Background & Objectives: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease that targets the central nervous system, causing myelin destruction and damage to axons in the brain and spinal cord, involvement of the brain's white and gray matter causing clinical signs and symptoms that cause physical impairment, disability and cognitive and psychological changes. In other words, the immune system reacts abnormally to another part of the body as an external factor. This damage disrupts the ability of parts of the nervous system to transmit signals, resulting in a wide range of symptoms, including physical, mental and sometimes psychiatric problems. In recent years, the prevalence of the disease in Iran has increased dramatically, due to lifestyle changes, increased urbanization and smoking. The prevalence of the disease in Iran is significantly higher in women than in men. In addition, research shows that women with MS report more physical complaints and anxiety and depression than men. The present study aimed to investigate the efficacy of stress reduction–based mindfulness on learned helplessness and emotional exhaustion in women with multiple sclerosis.
Methods: The research method was quasi–experimental with a pretest–posttest design. The statistical population of the study included all women with multiple sclerosis living in Mazandaran MS Association, Mazandaran Province, Iran who were registered between October 2022 and September 2023 and received a diagnosis of MS from a specialist. Among them, 24 people were selected by purposive sampling according to the inclusion criteria and randomly placed in two groups: experiment and control (12 people each group). The inclusion criteria for patients in the study included personal consent to participate in the study, multiple sclerosis diagnosed by a neurologist, and aged between 30 and 50 years. The exclusion criteria for patients were absence from more than two sessions during the training period, and recurrence of the disease during the training period. To comply with ethical principles, after explaining the research and the intended intervention, possible questions from the participants were answered, and after obtaining informed consent from the volunteers to participate in the research, at the end of the research, an effective intervention was also implemented for the control group, and the results of the research were made available to the participants. Members of the experimental group were exposed to eight 90–minute sessions of a group mindfulness program based on stress reduction (Segal et al., 2003), and the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using the Learned Helplessness Questionnaire (Quinnels & Nelson, 1988) and the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) (Meslash & Jackson, 1981) at three stages pretest, posttest, and three months post–intervention and then analyzed by analysis of variance measuring Frequently in SPSS statistical software version 26 were analyzed. The significance level of the tests was considered 0.05.
Results: The findings showed that the group effect on the variables of learned helplessness (p=0.023) and emotional exhaustion (p=0.002) was significant. Also, in the experimental group, in the variables of learned helplessness and emotional exhaustion, the difference between the mean scores of pretest and posttest, pretest and follow–up (p<0.05), and posttest and follow–up (p<0.05) were significant, showing that the effectiveness of the intervention was maintained during the 3–month follow–up period.
Conclusion: According to the results of the study, non–pharmacological mindfulness intervention based on stress reduction is effective in reducing learned helplessness and emotional exhaustion in women with multiple sclerosis and improves their psychological problems; and its effect is stable over time.