Skip to content
DraconiticResearch
Search Sources API
203,234 studies31 sourcesUpdated 57 min ago
Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Acta Neurologica Belgica

Relationship trust in individuals with multiple sclerosis: a network analysis approach

  • Cristiana Văcăraș1
  • Larisa Cristina Ioana Tînc2,3
  • Veronica Văcăraș4
  • Răzvan Predatu5,3
  • Cătălina Crișan6,7
  • Dafin F. Mureșanu6,8
  • Vitalie Văcăraș6,8
8 affiliations
  1. 1Faculty of Medicine, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  2. 2Doctoral School “Evidence-based assessment and psychological interventions”, Babeș- Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  3. 3International Institute for the Advanced Studies of Psychotherapy and Applied Mental Health, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  4. 4Civil Professional Psychotherapy Society, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  5. 5Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj- Napoca, Romania
  6. 6Department of Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, Iuliu Hațieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  7. 7Department of Psychiatry, Cluj Emergency County Hospital, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
  8. 8Department of Neurology, Cluj Emergency County Hospital, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
Read full textPDFDOICite

Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of mutual relations within the Relationship Trust Scale (RTS) in a sample of individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Methods: The participants comprised 189 individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (Mage = 43.39 years; 123 females, 61 males, 5 missing). Analyses were conducted using RStudio and JASP.

Results: The results indicated that, in terms of strength, the Cares node (Item: “My partner cares about my worries, feelings, joys, and troubles”) had the highest strength in the network. Furthermore, regarding expected influence, the analysis revealed that the Cares node had the highest expected influence in the network, followed by the Availability node (Item: "Whenever I am upset my partner is always available, supportive, and I feel like he/she’s there for me”), and Consideration in Decisions node (Item: “My partner takes me into account when making a decision.“). Also, the Cares node had the strongest associations with Consideration in Decisions, Safety, and Respect nodes. Network stability analyses indicated that interpretations should be focused primarily on expected influence (CS-coefficient = 0.286), which exceeded the minimum recommended threshold (Epskamp et al., 2018), while other centrality indices showed lower stability. Betweenness and closeness centrality were not interpreted, as these measures may be conceptually unsuitable for psychological networks (Bringmann et al., 2019). All findings should be considered exploratory and preliminary.

Conclusion: These exploratory findings appear to highlight potentially relevant relationship processes among individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis that may be targeted to improve the overall quality of their relationships.

Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-026-03130-9.

Related

  1. Symptoms as Correlates of Health-Related Quality of Life in Black and White Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis
    Trinh L. T. Huynh, Brenda Jeng, Victoria Flores +3
    International Journal of MS CarePeer-reviewedLicence not statedFull textGeneral medicinePMC
  2. CD4 + T cells reactive to Epstein-Barr virus late lytic antigens are enriched in individuals with multiple sclerosis
    Kjetil Bjørnevik, João Vitor Mahler, Philippe‐Antoine Bilodeau +16
    Science Translational MedicinePeer-reviewedLicence not stated8 citedGeneral medicineOpenAlex
  3. Examining the Relationship Between Perceived Social Satisfaction, Depression, and Anxiety for People With Multiple Sclerosis Participating in Group Treatment Modalities
    Brianne Markley, Nicholas R. Thompson, Grace Tworek +1
    International Journal of MS CarePeer-reviewedLicence not statedFull textGeneral medicinePMC
  4. CO075 | PLATELET ACTIVATION PROFILE IN RELAPSING-REMITTING MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH NEURONAL AND ASTROGLIAL BIOMARKERS
    Antonella Fioretti
    Bleeding, Thrombosis and Vascular BiologyPeer-reviewedCC BY-NCFull textCardiovascular medicineDOAJ
  5. Dose–effect relationship of an acute isometric exercise session with different durations on blood pressure and arterial stiffness in prehypertensive substance use disorder individuals
    Haodong Yuan, Tingran Zhang, Jiong Luo
    Scientific ReportsPeer-reviewedCC BY-NC-ND 4.0Full textCardiovascular medicineCrossref

Cite

BibTeXRIS
BibTeX
@article{vacaraș2026relationship,
  title = {{Relationship trust in individuals with multiple sclerosis: a network analysis approach}},
  author = {Cristiana Văcăraș and Larisa Cristina Ioana Tînc and Veronica Văcăraș and Răzvan Predatu and Cătălina Crișan and Dafin F. Mureșanu and Vitalie Văcăraș},
  journal = {Acta Neurologica Belgica},
  year = {2026},
  month = jul,
  doi = {10.1007/s13760-026-03130-9},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-026-03130-9},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY  - JOUR
TI  - Relationship trust in individuals with multiple sclerosis: a network analysis approach
AU  - Cristiana Văcăraș
AU  - Larisa Cristina Ioana Tînc
AU  - Veronica Văcăraș
AU  - Răzvan Predatu
AU  - Cătălina Crișan
AU  - Dafin F. Mureșanu
AU  - Vitalie Văcăraș
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/07/08
JO  - Acta Neurologica Belgica
DO  - 10.1007/s13760-026-03130-9
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-026-03130-9
AB  - Introduction: The aim of this study was to assess the pattern of mutual relations within the Relationship Trust Scale (RTS) in a sample of individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.  Methods: The participants comprised 189 individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (Mage = 43.39 years; 123 females, 61 males, 5 missing). Analyses were conducted using RStudio and JASP.  Results: The results indicated that, in terms of strength, the Cares node (Item: “My partner cares about my worries, feelings, joys, and troubles”) had the highest strength in the network. Furthermore, regarding expected influence, the analysis revealed that the Cares node had the highest expected influence in the network, followed by the Availability node (Item: "Whenever I am upset my partner is always available, supportive, and I feel like he/she’s there for me”), and Consideration in Decisions node (Item: “My partner takes me into account when making a decision.“). Also, the Cares node had the strongest associations with Consideration in Decisions, Safety, and Respect nodes. Network stability analyses indicated that interpretations should be focused primarily on expected influence (CS-coefficient = 0.286), which exceeded the minimum recommended threshold (Epskamp et al., 2018), while other centrality indices showed lower stability. Betweenness and closeness centrality were not interpreted, as these measures may be conceptually unsuitable for psychological networks (Bringmann et al., 2019). All findings should be considered exploratory and preliminary.  Conclusion: These exploratory findings appear to highlight potentially relevant relationship processes among individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis that may be targeted to improve the overall quality of their relationships.  Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-026-03130-9.
SN  - 0300-9009
SN  - 2240-2993
ER  -