Self-Compassion and Adherence in Five Medical Samples: the Role of Stress

Abstract

Emerging evidence indicates self-compassion can be beneficial for medical populations and for medical adherence; yet, research to date has not fully examined the reasons for this association. This study examined the association of dispositional selfcompassion to adherence across five medical samples and tested the extent to which perceived stress accounted for this association. Five medical samples (total N = 709), including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and cancer patients, recruited from various sources, completed online surveys. Self-compassion was positively associated with adherence in all five samples. A meta-analysis of the associations revealed a small average effect size (average r = .22, [0.15, 0.29]) of self-compassion and adherence and non-significant heterogeneity among the effects (Q (4) = 3.15, p = .532). A meta-analysis of the kappa 2 values from the indirect effects of self-compassion on adherence revealed that, on average, 11% of the variance in medical adherence that was explained by self-compassion could be attributed to lower perceived stress. Overall, findings demonstrate that dispositional self-compassion is associated with better medical adherence among people with fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, and cancer, due in part to lower stress. This research contributes to a growing evidence base indicating the value of selfcompassion for health-related behaviours in a variety of medical populations.

The association between self-compassion and self-rated health in 26 samples

“…Self-compassion is associated with lower levels of self-reported stress in medical and non-medical populations [2,3], and attenuated unhealthy physiological responses to stress [4][5][6]. Evidence also supports the role of self-compassion for a variety of important health behaviours including exercise and healthy eating [7][8][9], sleep hygiene [10,11], smoking cessation [12], self-care in medical populations [13], and medical adherence [14,15]. Importantly lower stress and healthy emotion regulation have been identified as key explanatory pathways for the links to health behaviours [9,14].…”

“…Evidence also supports the role of self-compassion for a variety of important health behaviours including exercise and healthy eating [7][8][9], sleep hygiene [10,11], smoking cessation [12], self-care in medical populations [13], and medical adherence [14,15]. Importantly lower stress and healthy emotion regulation have been identified as key explanatory pathways for the links to health behaviours [9,14]. Given evidence supporting the protective role of self-compassion for reducing stress and for promoting health behaviours, and the known contributions of stress and health behaviours to physical health status [16], it is therefore reasonable to expect that self-compassion would be associated with better physical…”

“…In a meta-analysis of 15 samples (N = 3252) self-compassion was positively associated with an index reflecting more frequent practice of a variety of health-promoting behaviours, including healthy eating and regular exercise [9]. Self-compassion has also found to be associated with better medical adherence across five medical samples including individuals with fibromyalgia, cancer, chronic fatigue syndrome [14], and better self-management behaviours in Type II diabetes [13]. Consistent with the theorized links between self-compassion and health, lower levels of negative affect and stress were found to explain in part why selfcompassion people engaged in better health-promoting and health management behaviours, respectively [9,14].…”

Efeitos da vergonha em sintomas depressivos em pessoas com e sem doença física crónica: Os papéis mediadores da autocompaixão e da ação comprometida

“…Vasta literatura tem vindo a enfatizar o papel da autocompaixão enquanto estratégia de regulação emocional particularmente útil, sublinhando o seu papel protetor na saúde mental (e.g., associando-se à diminuição dos sintomas psicopatológicos) e qualidade de vida, tanto em amostras de doentes crónicos (Pinto-Gouveia, Duarte, Matos, & Fráguas, 2013;Sirois & Hirsch, 2019;Sirois & Rowse, 2016) como em amostras da população geral (e.g., Körner et al, 2015;Neff, 2003b). A autocompaixão pode ser compreendida como a capacidade do indivíduo de ser compreensivo e caloroso relativamente a experiências e aspetos do eu percecionados como indesejáveis ou negativos, os quais são percecionados como parte da experiência humana comum e numa atitude mindful (Neff, 2003b).…”

“…Por outro lado, a literatura parece demonstrar que menores níveis de autocompaixão constituem um fator de vulnerabilidade para o desenvolvimento e manutenção de sintomas psicopatológicos, nomeadamente de sintomatologia depressiva (e.g., Körner et al, 2015;Krieger, Altenstein, Baetting, Doering, & Holtforth, 2013). Ainda, em estudos com amostras de doentes crónicos, a autocompaixão é apontada como tendo um papel fundamental na promoção de comportamentos de saúde (Sirois & Hirsch, 2019;Sirois & Rowse, 2016).…”