Figure 5
Causal and mutual relationships with FAMS general contentment score. The standardized total effect of EDSS on FAMS general contentment score is -.19, which consists of a standardized direct effect of -.09 and a standardized indirect effect of -.10. Changes in employment status and EDSS scores negatively affect the NAS-J anxiety/depression, acceptance, and self-esteem scores, whereas knowledge of disease information positively affects these subscales. Number of sources of disease information positively affects the NAS-J locus of control and self-efficacy scores. Changes in employment status, knowledge of disease information, number of sources of disease information, and EDSS scores affect the FAMS general contentment score indirectly through these NAS-J subscales. d1, d2, e1, e2, e3, e4, e5, and e6 in the figure are error terms. Numbers are standardized path coefficients, and asterisks (*) indicate statistical significance (p < 0.05).