Now I am in it. Self-compassion and mental health among people living with cancer: trajectories, mechanisms, and eHealth intervention
Now I am in it. Self-compassion and mental health among people living with cancer: trajectories, mechanisms, and eHealth intervention
Cancer poses substantial psychological challenges that extend beyond physical illness, highlighting the need to identify personal resources that support mental health across the cancer trajectory. Self-compassion, defined as responding to one’s own suffering with understanding, care, and a desire to alleviate distress, has emerged as a promising factor associated with reduced psychological symptoms and enhanced well-being.
However, important questions remain regarding how self-compassion develops over time, through which mechanisms it influences mental health, and whether it can be effectively cultivated in people living with cancer. This thesis of Jun Wang addressed these questions through a series of longitudinal, systematic review, and intervention studies. First, trajectories of self-compassion among people living with cancer were examined, revealing distinct patterns of change over time and highlighting the particular importance of negative self-compassion for psychological adjustment. Second, systematic review and empirical studies investigated mechanisms linking self-compassion to mental health, identifying coping-related adaptive capacities and illness perceptions as key explanatory pathways. Finally, the effectiveness of Compas-Y, a digital self-compassion intervention tailored to people living with cancer, was evaluated using a multiple-baseline design. The intervention was found to have promising effects on self-compassion, self-criticism, affect, and psychological well-being.
Overall, the findings indicate that self-compassion is a dynamic and modifiable personal resource that contributes to both reduced psychological distress and enhanced well-being among people living with cancer. By elucidating developmental trajectories, underlying mechanisms, and intervention potential, this thesis advances theoretical understanding of self-compassion and provides evidence for its integration into psychosocial cancer care.