A qualitative exploration of self-compassion for caregivers of children with physical disabilities.

IF 1.7 4区医学 Q3 PSYCHOLOGY, CLINICAL

Rehabilitation Psychology Pub Date : 2025-09-04 DOI:10.1037/rep0000636

Christine R Lathren, Macy Lawrence Ratliff, Jamie Lynn Tatera, Rosemary Ellsworth, Jinyoung Park, Hannah Allen

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Purpose/objective: Caregivers of children with physical disabilities face unique stressors and experience high levels of anxiety, depression, and burnout. In general, self-compassion-based skills are associated with decreased psychological distress and increased well-being. However, the nuances of why or how self-compassion may promote the psychological well-being in caregivers of children with physical disabilities are unknown. Using qualitative data, this study explores the relevance of self-compassion in supporting caregivers' psychological well-being from multiple perspectives.

Method: We conducted 13 semistructured interviews with community service providers, a group feedback session with seven caregiver advisors, and a feedback session with eight caregivers who had recently completed a self-compassion-based resilience course. Transcripts were analyzed by two coders using reflexive thematic analysis.

Results: We developed three themes regarding how self-compassion skills may promote caregivers' psychological well-being within the context of caregiving: (a) balancing "gritting through" with increased awareness and expression of emotions and needs, (b) balancing isolation with increased connection, and (c) balancing self-judgment with increased grace and self-advocacy.

Conclusion: Self-compassion skills may benefit caregivers in specific ways in the context of caring for a child with a physical disability. Self-compassion-based interventions that target and measure these unique factors are promising for alleviating psychological distress for this community. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

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残障儿童照顾者自我同情的质性探讨。

目的/目的：身体残疾儿童的照顾者面临着独特的压力源，并经历着高度的焦虑、抑郁和倦怠。总的来说，基于自我同情的技能与减少心理困扰和增加幸福感有关。然而，自我同情为什么或如何促进身体残疾儿童照顾者的心理健康的细微差别尚不清楚。本研究采用质性数据，从多个角度探讨自我同情与支持照顾者心理健康的关系。方法：我们对社区服务提供者进行了13次半结构化访谈，对7名照顾者顾问进行了小组反馈，并对8名最近完成了基于自我同情的弹性课程的照顾者进行了反馈。转录本由两名编码器使用反身性主题分析进行分析。结果：我们就自我同情技能如何在照顾的背景下促进照顾者的心理健康发展了三个主题：(a)平衡“坚持到底”与增加意识和表达情感和需求；(b)平衡孤立与增加联系；(c)平衡自我判断与增加优雅和自我倡导。结论：在照顾身体残疾儿童的过程中，自我同情技能可能以特定的方式使照顾者受益。以自我同情为基础的干预措施，针对和测量这些独特的因素，有望减轻这个社区的心理困扰。（PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA，版权所有）。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Rehabilitation Psychology Multiple-

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

7.40%

发文量

期刊介绍： Rehabilitation Psychology is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal that publishes articles in furtherance of the mission of Division 22 (Rehabilitation Psychology) of the American Psychological Association and to advance the science and practice of rehabilitation psychology. Rehabilitation psychologists consider the entire network of biological, psychological, social, environmental, and political factors that affect the functioning of persons with disabilities or chronic illness. Given the breadth of rehabilitation psychology, the journal"s scope is broadly defined.