Exploring humor as a coping factor against depressive mood and fear of progression in people with multiple sclerosis with moderate disability: A cross-sectional analysis of a rehabilitation cohort

Background

People with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) face disease-related stress throughout their lives, often resulting in depressive mood and fear of progression (FoP). People with a pronounced sense of humor demonstrate greater resilience to stress and tend to perceive threats as challenges. This research investigates whether humor can be identified as a relevant coping factor in pwMS regarding depressive mood and FoP.

Methods

Participants were 77 German inpatients aged 25–64 years with predominantly relapsing-remitting MS. Blockwise regression analyses were conducted to examine the relationship between humor skills (Sense of Humor Scale, SHS), depressive mood (Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, CES-D), and fear of progression (Fear of Progression-Questionnaire, FoP-Q), adjusting for demographic, disease-specific, and self-management variables. Correlational and moderator analyses were conducted to evaluate the impact of humor styles (Comic Style Markers, CSM) and self-observation (as a self-distancing measure, Questionnaire to Assess Resources and Self-Management Skills) on these relationships.

Results

The summed SHS score was found to be a significant unique determinant for less depressive mood (CES-D, RΔ = 0.05, p = .005), low FoP (FoP-Q sum score, RΔ = 0.06, p = .004), and greater anxiety coping (FoP-Q anxiety coping, RΔ = 0.06, p = .007). Only light humor style was associated with specific FoP-Q scales; the variable dark humor style was not correlated with any study variable. The subscale self-observation failed to moderate between SHS and emotional disorders.

Conclusion

Data indicate that humor skills in pwMS are associated with less depression and FoP, which argues for incorporating adaptive humor as a coping resource into psychosocial interventions for pwMS. However, further validation is needed through larger and longitudinal trials.