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Emotional Processing, Family Life, Friendship and Social Integration in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Emotional Processing, Family Life, Friendship and Social Integration in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Status
Completed
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02708927
Acronym
EMOSOCIAL-MS
Enrollment
91
Registered
2016-03-15
Start date
2016-03-03
Completion date
2019-01-28
Last updated
2026-08-27

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Multiple Sclerosis

Keywords

social integration, cognitive impairment, emotional processing, quality of life

Brief summary

In addition to the physical, cognitive and psychological symptoms experienced by individuals with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), there is new research which indicates that some individuals with MS have a deficit in emotional processing, specifically, facial affect recognition. Emotional processing is defined as "a central aspect of social cognition". Models of social cognition indicate that emotional processing is an essential component of interpersonal relationships. The failure to accurately perceive other's emotions has been shown to lead to difficulty in social relationships, misinterpreting other's affect, and consequently, inappropriate responding. However, even though a significant number of individuals with MS have impairments in emotional processing, we do not yet have an understanding of how these impairments affect the social functioning of individuals with MS, including the impact of these deficits on family structure. It is well-known that MS impacts one's social functioning including factors such as employment, daily living activities and interpersonal relationships. Recently a strong correlation was observed between reduced social participation in MS and quality of life. There is evidence to suggest that emotional processing deficits lie at the heart of this reduced social participation in persons with MS, leading to decreased social functioning and thus reduced quality of life. However, to date, this hypothesis has not been tested.

Interventions

OTHERClinical evaluation

• Clinical assessment : Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), ambulation test. Medications will be recorded.

• Neuropsychological, psychological, social and social cognitive evaluation

Sponsors

University Hospital, Bordeaux
Lead SponsorOTHER
FONDATION POUR L'AIDE A LA RECHERCHE SUR LA SCLEROSE EN PLAQUES
CollaboratorUNKNOWN

Study design

Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
DIAGNOSTIC
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 45 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes

Inclusion criteria

(patient group): * Age 18-45 years; * MS diagnosis according to McDonald criteria (Polman et al., 2005); * RRMS; * Disease duration \< 15 years; * Fluent French speaker; * Have a significant other (family members or close friends) who was willing to complete the informant questionnaire BAFQ; * Being affiliated to health insurance; * Having signed an informed consent (later than the day of inclusion and before any examination required by research). Inclusion Criteria (healthy control): * Age 18-45 years * Fluent French speaker; * Have a significant other (family members or close friends) who was willing to complete the informant questionnaire BAFQ. * Being affiliated to health insurance * Having signed an informed consent (later than the day of inclusion and before any examination required by research)

Exclusion criteria

(patient group): * Other progressive neurological disease; * psychiatric comorbidity including severe depression according to Diagnostic and Statistical Manual-IV (DSM-IV); * alcohol or other addiction to toxic; * EDSS\> 6; * Disabling visual or motor problems preventing participation to neuropsychological assessments; * relapse since less than one month; * change of disease-modifying therapy or psychotropic drug since less than three month; * change of psychotropic drug since less than one month; * Prior neuropsychological testing with the same tests less than one year prevents the participant to participate at this study. * Illiteracy, is unable to count or to read; * Being under guardianship. * Pregnant or breastfeeding women;

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Interaction between measures of emotional processing (z score) and functional measures of social interactionAt inclusion (day 0)among the 3 groups (impaired MS, no impaired MS and HS)

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Correlation between measures of emotional processing with cognitive testing (z scores by domain) and cognitive functioning evaluated by significant otherAt inclusion (day 0)(BAFQ)
Correlation between measures of emotional processing and quality of life measuresAt inclusion (day 0)(MUSIQoL questionnaire).
Impact of the cognitive impairment on the relationship of emotional processing (z score) with interpersonal relationships (family, friendship, marital) and society integration and social functioning.At inclusion (day 0)

Countries

France

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORBruno BROCHET, Prof

University Hospital, Bordeaux

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Aug 28, 2026