Role of irrational beliefs and dysfunctional attitudes in prediction of health hardiness in women with multiple sclerosis

Patients with multiple sclerosis usually experience a wide range of psychological problems. This study aimed to investigate the role of irrational beliefs and dysfunctional attitudes in prediction of health hardiness in women with multiple sclerosis.

This study was a correlational – descriptive design. The study population consisted of all women with multiple sclerosis who referring to the Iranian Multiple Sclerosis Association in 2017. 120 patients were selected by the available sampling method. Instruments for gathering data were Irrational beliefs questionnaire (Jones, 1986), dysfunctional attitude scale (Weissman & Beck, 1978) and Health Hardiness Inventory (Gebhardt et al., 2001). Then, the data were analyzed using SPSS software and statistical tests such as the Pearson correlation coefficient and Regression Analysis.

Results showed that irrational beliefs and dysfunctional attitudes have a negative and significant relationship with health in women with multiple sclerosis. Also, the results of the regression analysis indicated that irrational beliefs and dysfunctional attitudes significantly predicted 24 percent of variances in health hardiness.

It seems that designing training interventions based on irrational beliefs and dysfunctional attitudes can increase the probability of health hardiness among women with multiple sclerosis.