The relative benefits of being optimistic: Optimism as a coping resource in multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease

Objective. To explore two issues involving the relationship between optimism and adaptation in chronically ill patients. The first issue involves the question whether the impact of optimism on adjustment is disease-specific, that is whether patients who are confronted with extreme levels of uncontrollability and unpredictability generated by their condition benefit more from an optimistic attitude than those who are confronted with less high levels of those disease characteristics. The second issue relates to the question whether greater optimism produces better adjustment or whether, in contrast, a medium level of optimism plays a more adaptive role. Design. The cross-sectional design involves 166 patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) or multiple sclerosis (MS) recruited from patient's organizations. Method. Regression analyses were employed to test for a disease-specific effect of dispositional optimism (measured by the Life Orientation Test) on coping (measured by the Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations) and adjustment (measured by the Sickness Impact Profile) by introducing interactions between optimism and disease in the analysis. Curvilinear effects were tested by introducing a squared optimism variable. Results. These show that optimism has a disease-specific effect on physical adjustment and on the use of emotion-oriented and avoidant coping strategies. Although the study's cross-sectional design does not allow for causal inferences, these data suggest that MS patients may benefit more from optimism than PD patients and also that, in comparison with PD patients, optimism in MS patients does not necessarily promote avoidant and emotion-oriented coping. The results also show a medium level of optimism to promote the application of task-oriented and avoidant coping strategies. Conclusion. It is concluded that context-specific constraints associated with type of disease may affect the assumed beneficial role of optimism on adjustment.