Research master thesis | Psychology (research) (MSc)
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Background. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease characterized by damage to the myelin sheaths in the central nervous system. Cognitive symptoms impact up to 65% of people with MS (PwMS)....Show moreBackground. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic disease characterized by damage to the myelin sheaths in the central nervous system. Cognitive symptoms impact up to 65% of people with MS (PwMS). While neuropsychological tests are standard for reliably assessing cognitive function in PwMS, self-assessment accuracy varies widely. Previously, PwMS were found to accurately estimate their cognitive functioning, underestimate, or overestimate it. Personality traits, particularly neuroticism (N) and conscientiousness (C), may influence the accuracy of self-assessment. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the relationship between the estimation of cognitive functioning and objective cognitive performance in PwMS, focusing on how N and C affect this relationship. Methods. A sample of PwMS (n = 162) estimated their cognitive test performance by hypothetically comparing themselves to demographically matched others, followed by objective assessment using the Minimal Assessment of Cognitive Function in MS (MACFIMS). To assess N and C, NEO Five Factor inventory was administered. Estimation and objective functioning scores were transformed into percentile scores. Participants were grouped into accurate estimators, underestimators, and overestimators based on a 10-point difference cut-off score. A Pearson correlation analysis was performed to establish the strength of the relationship between the estimation and the objective percentile score. A multinomial logistic regression analysis was performed to evaluate how N and C influence the accuracy of estimation. Results. The estimation of performance on cognitive tests was weakly to moderately related to the objective scores (r(160) = .32 [.169, .448], p < .001). Most participants were not accurate in estimating their performance on cognitive tests, with overestimators being the largest group (55%). N and C did not play a role in the accuracy of this estimation (2(4, N = 155) = 3.157, p = .532). A post hoc sensitivity analysis for the cut-off grouping score was conducted. Conclusions. N and C did not play a role in how accurately PwMS estimated their performance before cognitive testing. Estimation of own performance compared to demographically matched others was weakly related to the objective scores, with most participants being prone to overestimation. This highlights the importance of objective assessment of cognition in addition to self-report.Show less
