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

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.