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Self‐awareness in multiple sclerosis: Relationships with executive functions and affect
Author(s) -
Chen Michelle H.,
Goverover Yael
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
european journal of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.881
H-Index - 124
eISSN - 1468-1331
pISSN - 1351-5101
DOI - 10.1111/ene.14762
Subject(s) - affect (linguistics) , task (project management) , intellectual disability , anxiety , medicine , operationalization , self awareness , cognition , psychology , perception , activities of daily living , clinical psychology , psychiatry , social psychology , philosophy , management , communication , epistemology , neuroscience , economics
Abstract Background and objectives Deficits in self‐awareness can be observed in persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). The present study aimed to investigate two types of self‐awareness (intellectual and online) among pwMS, which will inform clinical care. Intellectual awareness refers to knowledge of one's own abilities; online awareness refers to real‐time monitoring and regulation of one's performance. Methods The study sample consisted of 95 pwMS and 65 healthy controls (HCs). Intellectual awareness was defined as discrepancy between participant's and informant's reports of participant's functioning. Online awareness was operationalized by change in self‐assessment of performance after engaging in a functional task. Results PwMS had significantly worse intellectual awareness than HCs regarding money management (confidence interval [CI] 0.44 to 1.99), task performance (CI −0.01 to 2.5), social interaction (CI 0.29 to 2.45), and problem solving (CI 0.87 to 2.8) abilities, but not sensory symptoms. Executive functioning was positively associated with intellectual awareness in HCs, while depressive and anxiety symptoms were negatively related to intellectual awareness in pwMS. In contrast, online awareness was not significantly different between groups; both groups were able accurately to assess their performance after engaging in a functional task. Conclusions Intellectual awareness, but not online awareness, is impaired in pwMS. Among pwMS, affective symptomatology may distort their perception of functional status. Persons with MS may benefit from actually performing a functional task during the assessment and treatment process, which may lead to a more accurate estimate of their own abilities.