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The role of self-compassion in the relationship between pain and depression in palliative patients

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

J. Guerra ,
L. Santiago  and
D. Carreiras
J. Guerra*
Affiliation:
Faculdade De Medicina Da Universidade De Coimbra, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
L. Santiago
Affiliation:
Faculdade De Medicina Da Universidade De Coimbra, Universidade de Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
D. Carreiras
Affiliation:
Center For Research In Neuropsychology And Cognitive And Behavioral Intervention, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

In palliative care, depression and pain are prevalent variables with a reciprocal and controversial relationship. Depression is common in people with chronical diseases. In the last decades, self-compassion has been pointed as a protective psychological process to negative affect.

Objectives

The current study aimed to test the role of self-compassion in the relationship between pain and depression in palliative patients.

Methods

Sample was composed of 33 patients in palliative care, with a mean of 74.12 years of age (SD = 12.76). Participants completed self-report questionnaires and data was analyzed using SPSS.

Results

From the descriptive analysis of the results of the Geriatric Depression Scale, 22 patients were depressed (66.6%), 9 of them in severe depression (27.7%). Self-compassion presented a negative and moderate correlation with depression. Depression was positively correlated with pain. A hierarchical regression to predict depression was conducted. Firstly, pain was entered as a predictive variable with a significant effect. Secondly, self-compassion was entered, and the model was significantly incremented, explaining 41% of depression. Only self-compassion was significant in this model.

Conclusions

Discussion and conclusion: The association between pain and depression in palliative care corroborate previous research. Results seemed to show that self-compassion has a significant effect in the relationship between pain and depression. Cultivating a compassion self-to-self relationship might have an important effect attenuating the link between pain and depression in palliative care.

Keywords

PainDepressionPalliative patientsSelf-compassion
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 64 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 29th European Congress of Psychiatry , April 2021 , pp. S430 - S431
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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