These results indicate a specific deficit in decoding static and dynamic information about emotion in MS, as compared to nonemotional information. There were specific relationships between emotion perception problems and poor social and psychological quality of life, indicating that emotional skills should be considered when evaluating functioning in MS.
This research highlights the following important clinical implications: Following a stroke, emotion regulation can be immediately and persistently affected, with post-stroke individuals experiencing greater difficulties with their emotion regulation than control participants. Emotion regulation can significantly predict important stroke outcomes including social participation and quality of life, over and above physical limitations and other post-stroke confounders. This study highlights the potential for developing a behaviour change intervention to address emotion regulation difficulties and thus ensuring individuals maximize their potential rehabilitation outcome. Cautions of the study for consideration: Emotion regulation was a self-report measure, and proxy measures would have been desirable. We are unable to establish if the post-stroke individuals differed from the controls on their emotion regulation prior to stroke.
BackgroundThe International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) defines participation as a person’s performance in life situations, including the size of social networks, and satisfaction with social contacts. Stroke survivors are known to experience a reduction in the number of their social networks and contacts, which cannot be explained solely in terms of activity limitations caused by physical impairment. Problems of emotional processing, including impaired mood, emotion regulation and emotion perception, are known to occur following stroke and can detrimentally influence many aspects of social interaction and participation. The aim of this study is to investigate whether emotion processing impairments predict stroke survivors’ restricted social participation, independent of problems with activity limitation.Methods/designWe aim to recruit 125 patients admitted to NHS Grampian with a confirmed diagnosis of stroke. All participants will be assessed on measures of emotion processing, social participation and activity limitation at approximately one month post stroke and again at approximately one year post stroke in order to assess change over time.DiscussionIt is important to develop a greater understanding of the emotional factors which may underlie key social deficits in stroke recovery in an ageing population where stroke is one of the leading causes of severe, complex disability. This research may enable us to identify those who are risk of participation restriction and target them in the acute stroke phase of stroke so that adverse outcome is avoided and rehabilitation potential is fulfilled.
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