TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2024 , Vol 39 , Num 3
Self-Compassion in Caregivers of Cancer Patients in Respect of Psychological Resilience, Distress and Quality of Life
Sinem ARDIÇ1,Dilek ANUK2,Mine ÖZKAN3
1The Ministry of Family and Social Services of Republic of Türkiye, İstanbul-Türkiye
2Division of Psychosocial Oncology and Education, Department of Preventive Oncology, İstanbul University, Oncology Institute, İstanbul-Türkiye
3Departmant of Consultation Liasion Psychiatry, İstanbul University, İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, İstanbul-Türkiye
DOI : 10.5505/tjo.2024.4230 OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to determine the relationship between self-compassion and psychological resilience, quality of life, depression, anxiety, and stress levels of informal caregivers of inpatient palliative care oncology patients.

METHODS
The study involved 72 caregiver relatives (39 females, 33 males) of cancer patients receiving inpatient palliative care. Data were collected through Sociodemographic Information Forms, the Self-Compassion Scale, the Psychological Resilience Scale for Adults, the Caregiver Quality of Life Index Cancer Scale, and the Depression Anxiety Stress-21.

RESULTS
The most challenging issues for caregivers were grief about the patient"s health and trying to manage the patient"s psychological reactions or changes in behavior. The correlation analysis indicated statistically significant associations between resilience, depression, anxiety, stress, quality of life, and self-awareness. Psychological resilience and quality of life were found to be significantly predictive of self-understanding, while depression, anxiety, and stress levels were not found to have any predictive role.

CONCLUSION
It would be useful to focus on increasing the levels of self-compassion and psychological resilience in psychological intervention programs to be developed to protect and treat the mental health of caregivers of cancer patients in the palliative treatment period. Keywords : Cancer; caregiver; distress; palliative period; psychological resilience; quality of life; self-compassion