The Short- and Long-term Causal Relationships Between Self-compassion, Trait Mindfulness, Caregiver Stress, and Depressive Symptoms in Family Caregivers of Patients with Lung Cancer

“The FFMQ showed acceptable internal consistency reliability in the current sample: α = 0.73 to 0.85.”

“Depressive Symptoms Family caregivers’ depressive symptoms were assessed using the 21-item Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) to measure the presence and severity of depressive symptoms (Beck et al., 1996).”

“Neff (2003) and Gilbert et al.”

“Mindfulness decreases the unrealistic appraisal of stressful events because it leads individuals to shift attention from a ruminative to a present-centered focus, encouraging acceptance towards the experience of a present moment rather than avoidance of that experience (Shapiro et al., 2006).”

“People who practice self-compassion have a lower probability of being self-critical and a higher probability of engaging in self-care and positive change, aiding them in being mindful and responding constructively to difficult experiences (Barnard & Curry, 2011; Jay Miller et al., 2019).”

“Being mindful enables people to be more aware and accepting of their experiences of the present moment, leading to reductions in stress levels and other negative outcomes (Colgan et al., 2019; Creswell & Lindsay, 2014).”

“Self‑Compassion The 13-item self-compassion scale measured persons’ abilities to have compassion toward themselves (Gilbert et al., 2017).”

“…both clinical and nonclinical settings have consistently identified self-compassion to be negatively associated with depressive symptoms and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and particularly those of rumination and avoidance (Bakker et al., 2019; Inwood & Ferrari, 2018; Zhu et al., 2019).”

“It has been found that caregiving burdens generally either remain unchanged or increase over a 6-month period (Grant et al., 2013; Milbury et al., 2013).”

“It has been found that caregiving burdens generally either remain unchanged or increase over a 6-month period (Grant et al., 2013; Milbury et al., 2013).”

“Mindfulness, thus, creates for the individual opportunities for reflection, which enable more adaptive and flexible ways of responding to difficult situations (Grecucci et al., 2015; Shapiro et al., 2006).”

“Lung cancer patients’ heavy symptom burdens and low survival rates lead their family members to be in a high-risk group for suffering from depressive symptoms and psychological distress (Nipp et al., 2016; Tan et al., 2018).”

“There is also a probability that self-compassion is associated with a decrease in the use of negative coping strategies, such as rumination, self-criticism, emotional suppression, and avoidance (Finlay-Jones, 2017).”

“Cross-lagged panel analyses show that self-compassion predicted depressive symptoms and the occurrence of a major depressive episode over time (Krieger et al., 2016).”

“Lung cancer patients’ heavy symptom burdens and low survival rates lead their family members to be in a high-risk group for suffering from depressive symptoms and psychological distress (Nipp et al., 2016; Tan et al., 2018).”

“Studies have found that 22–60% of family caregivers of lung cancer patients suffer from clinical depression (Nightingale et al., 2019; Siminoff et al., 2010).”

“While undertaking long-term caregiving burdens, family caregivers commonly experience physical and emotional exhaustion, which is referred to as compassion fatigue (Lynch et al., 2018).”

“Their depressive symptoms and psychological distress influence their capacity to provide compassionate care to their loved ones (Day & Anderson, 2011).”

“A later disengagement in mindfulness intervention was predicted for individuals with baseline levels of worry and rumination (Banerjee et al., 2018).”

“Recent studies in both clinical and nonclinical settings have consistently identified self-compassion to be negatively associated with depressive symptoms and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and particularly those of rumination and avoidance (Bakker et al., 2019; Inwood & Ferrari, 2018; Zhu et al., 2019).”

“Recent studies in both clinical and nonclinical settings have consistently identified self-compassion to be negatively associated with depressive symptoms and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies, and particularly those of rumination and avoidance (Bakker et al., 2019; Inwood & Ferrari, 2018; Zhu et al., 2019).”

“The cross-sectional study showed that higher levels of both self-compassion and mindfulness were associated with lower levels of depression (Lopez et al., 2016).”

“However, a cross-sectional study utilizing mediation analysis indicates that self-compassion increases the individual’s motivation to engage in mindfulness training (Rowe et al., 2016).”

“39% (n = 30) of family caregivers scored above the BDI-II cut-off point of 13, for clinically significant depressive symptoms (Junior et al., 2019).”

“Being mindful enables people to be more aware and accepting of their experiences of the present moment, leading to reductions in stress levels and other negative outcomes (Colgan et al., 2019; Creswell & Lindsay, 2014).”

“Studies have found that 22–60% of family caregivers of lung cancer patients suffer from clinical depression (Nightingale et al., 2019; Siminoff et al., 2010).”

“Moreover, as supported by previous findings (Pires et al., 2018), people with higher self-compassion scores report greater mindfulness and sensitivity to emotional stimuli.”

“The Compassionate Engagement and Action Scale (CEAS; Gilbert et al. 2017) was employed by two studies (Hsieh et al. 2021; Murfield et al. 2020).”

“This fi nding is consistent with the results of other studies conducted from a dichotomous perspective; 17 – 19 which showed that the advanced stage of LC had a signi fi cant impact on the lifestyle, interactions, and family structure of the patients.”

“…of depression, nursing strategies such as skill training programs in self- compassion, positive appraisal and active coping should be developed for adult children to normalise their perceptions of filial duties and enhance their preparedness (Chan et al., 2018; Hsieh et al., 2021; Xu et al., 2020).”

“Prior research supports the link between caregiver mindfulness and favorable care outcomes, including higher self-compassion, lower burden, and lower burnout [26, 59, 60, 67, 70].”

“The meta-analysis revealed that non-significant overall effects on caregivers' anxiety and depression, which is inconsistent with the study by Hsieh et al. (2021).”

“This trajectory in mindfulness and stress ratings reflects several previous findings, where an initial effect of mindfulness skills on the primary outcome is observed, followed by a period of attenuation [45-48].”