Psychological well-being and death anxiety among breast cancer survivors during the Covid-19 pandemic: the mediating role of self-compassion

Background Despite the abundance of clinical data available for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), little research on the psychological well-being of breast cancer survivors has been published. We investigate the extent to which self-compassion accounted for the association between psychological well-being (depression, anxiety) and death anxiety in breast cancer survivors. Methods A cross-sectional study design was applied. Participants were recruited from three departments of oncology in Zanjan, Iran. Data were collected from 210 breast cancer patients. Participants completed self-report measures. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to assess the relationship among the study variables. Bootstrapping analyses were used to test the significance of indirect effects. Results Correlational analyses revealed that depression and anxiety were significantly and positively related to death anxiety (r = 0.77, p < 0.01; r = 0.85, p < 0.01, respectively) and negatively to self-compassion (r = - 0.48, p < 0.01; r = - 0.53, p < 0.01, respectively). Bootstrapping analyses revealed significant indirect effects of depression (beta = 0.065, SE = 0.35, p < 0.03, 95% CI [LL = - 0.0083, UL: - 0.1654]) and anxiety (beta = 0.089, SE = 0.09, p < 0.04, 95% CI [LL = - 0.0247, UL: - 0.1987]) on death anxiety through self-compassion. Conclusions Findings from this study indicate that self-compassion may be considered as one treatment strategy to improve psychological well-being of cancer patients in the new context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Automated summary

The study found a significant positive relationship between depression and anxiety with death anxiety, and a negative relationship with self-compassion. Self-compassion was identified as an intermediary factor between depression and anxiety with death anxiety in breast cancer survivors.