Intervention for Young Adults With Multiple Sclerosis (ESPRIMO)

Young adults with MS will receive an intervention (group setting) composed of physical activities (duration: 10-12 weeks; either dancing or walking) and psychosocial interventions (6-8 encounters).

[The intervention will start as soon as 8-10 patients will have been enrolled. A waiting list will be then created and patients contacted when the subsequent group starts. This waiting list does not serve as control group.

One or more groups, respectively for the psychological intervention and the physical activities, may start at the same time but on different days, considering also the results of the co-creation phase.]

Participants will receive the intervention during Phase 2.

The intervention is based on the cognitive behavioral, the third-wave (mindfulness and acceptance and commitment therapy), and the positive psychology approach.

The frequency of the intervention and the specific content and aims of the psychological and physical intervention will be based on the results of the surveys and the focus group discussion (Pre-phase and Phase 1). In order to maximize the benefit of the integrated intervention, all the three components of the interventions (i.e., psychological, motor exercise and social components) will be administered in the same time period.

A preliminary theoretical framework of the intervention will be created prior to the survey phase according to the literature in the field. Specific aspects of this preliminary framework will be discussed during the co-creation phase and adapted after the analysis of the qualitative results.

Health-related Quality of Life at 1 day post-intervention will be Health-related quality of life will be measured by the Italian version of the "Coop/Wonca charts" [van Weel et al., 1993] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The Coop/Wonca questionnaire is a self-reported single-item scale to explore HRQoL, including physical (fitness and daily activities), mental (emotions), social domains (social contacts) and above that general health and change in health status [Weel et al., 1995]. Each chart consists of a single question referring to the preceding two weeks and are scored on a 5-level ordinal scale ranging from 1 (no impact) to 5 (high impact), illustrated by a simple picture.

An ad hoc questionnaire (one of the two specific outcome measures evaluating the feasibility of the intervention) using closed (rated by Likert scales ranging from 1 (not at all) to 10 (very much, with higher scores reflecting higher levels of acceptance and satisfaction) and open questions will be administered to evaluate the acceptance and satisfaction of participants.

Information on participants' experience will inform the intervention and its administration and will reduce barriers to participation for future patients.

Resilience will be measured using the Italian version of the "Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale" [CD-RISC; Connor & Davidson, 2003] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The CD-RISC is designed to assess resilience features in adolescents and adults and composed of 25 items and evaluated on a 5-point Likert scale (ranging from 0 "not true at all" to 4 "true nearly all of the time"), with higher scores reflecting higher levels of resilience.

Well-being will be measured using the Italian version of the "Short Form 12 general health questionnaire" [SF12, Apolone et al., 2001] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The SF12 is a validated 12-item questionnaire with Physical and Mental Component Summary (PCS and MCS, respectively) scores.

The SF12 uses different types of scales (e.g., Yes/No questions, scales ranging from 1(always) to 6 (never)).

Mindfulness traits will be assessed using the Italian version of the "Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire" [FFMQ; Baer et al., 2006; Giovannini et al., 2014] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The FFMQ-SF is a 24-item self-report questionnaire measuring one general mindfulness factor and five secondary facets (i.e., Observe, Describe, Act with Awareness, Nonjudge, and Nonreact) on a 5-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 ("never or very rarely true") to 5 ("very often or always true"), with higher total scores reflecting a greater degree of mindfulness.

Self-efficacy will be measured using the "Self-Efficacy in Multiple Sclerosis Scale" [SEMS; Bonino et al., 2016] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

It is a 15-item self-completion instrument using a 5-point Likert scale (from 0 = not at all confident to 4 = very confident). Items are conceptually allocated to two areas: "Goal setting" (9 items) and "Symptom management" (6 items).

Perceived social support will be measured using the "Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support" [MSPSS; Prezza & Principato, 2002; Zimet et al., 1988] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

It is a 12-item self-report measure, assessing on a 7-point Likert scale (from 1 "strongly disagree" to 7 "strongly agree") the level of perceived social support of various sources: family, friends, and significant others.

Levels of anxiety and depression will be measured using the "Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale" [HADS; Zigmond & Snaith, 1983; Costantini et al., 1999] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The HADS is a brief self-report questionnaire composed of 14 items describing on a 4-point scale from 0 to 3 the levels of anxiety a person is experiencing.

HADS anxiety (HADS-A, 7 items) and depression (HADS-D, 7 items) subscale scores will be calculated, possibly ranging from 0 (no symptoms) to 21 (most severe symptoms). A HADS-A and HADS-D score of ≥8 indicates a high risk of anxiety and depressive disorder.

Illness perception will be measured using the "Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire" [Brief IPQ-R; Broadbent et al., 2006; Pain et al., 2006] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

It is a 9-item self-completion instrument using a 5-point Likert scale (from "strongly disagree" to "strongly agree") providing a quantitative measurement of the components of illness representations [Leventhal et al., 1984; Leventhal et al., 1997].

The construct of committed action is measured applying the Italian version of the "The Committed Action Questionnaire-8" (CAQ-8) [McCracken et al., 2015] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The CAQ-8, a short version of The Committed Action Questionnaire [McCracken, 2013], is an 8-item questionnaire using a 7-point Likert scale (from 0 = never true to 6 = always true).

Fatigue will be measured applying the "Fatigue Scale for Motor and Cognitive Functions" [FSMC; Penner et al., 2009; Elbers et al., 2012] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

It is a self-report fatigue questionnaires validated in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and useful to evaluate both motor and cognitive fatigue.

It is composed by 20 items evaluated on a Likert scale, ranging from 1 (it never happens) to 5 (it always happens), with higher scores reflecting higher levels of motor and cognitive fatigue.

Perceived autonomy support (as part of a set of variables reflecting attitudes towards physical activity and motivation to be physically active) will be measured with the "Perceived Autonomy Support Scale for Exercise Setting" (PASSES; Hagger et al., 2007) at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The 12 items are rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1(totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree), with higher scores reflecting greater perceptions of autonomy support.

Autonomous motivation (as part of a set of variables reflecting attitudes towards physical activity and motivation to be physically active) will be measured with the "Behavioral Regulation in Exercise Questionnaire" [BREQ-3; Markland et al., 2014] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The 24 items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree).

Attitudes (as part of a set of variables reflecting attitudes towards physical activity and motivation to be physically active) will be measured by a scale developed by Galli et al. [2018], following the recommendations of Ajzen [1991] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The scale comprises 6 items with responses provided on seven-points scales (with contrasting adjectives (e.g.,"bad - good", "harmful-beneficial").

Subjective norms (as part of a set of variables reflecting attitudes towards physical activity and motivation to be physically active) will be measured by a scale developed by Galli et al. [2018], following the recommendations of Ajzen [1991] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The 3 items of the scale are rated on a 7-point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), with a greater single score (aggregated item scores) indicating greater normative social pressure toward the behavior.

Perceived Behavioral Control (as part of a set of variables reflecting attitudes towards physical activity and motivation to be physically active) will be measured by a scale developed by Galli et al. [2018], following the recommendations of Ajzen [1991] at baseline and 1 day post-intervention assessing the changes between the two time points.

The 3 items of the scale are rated on a 7-point Likert scale, with a greater single score (aggregated item scores) indicating greater perceived confidence toward the behavior.