Resilience and self-compassion affect selfhandicapping in Turkish undergraduate nursing students: A correlational study

Introduction: Psychological resilience and self-compassion are qualities that nurses should have when helping people with health problems.

Objective: To determine the effect of resilience on self-handicapping and self-compassion in nursing students.

Materials and methods: This research has a correlational design. The study sample included nursing students who met the inclusion criteria (n = 369). Data were collected using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, Self-Handicapping Scale, and Self-Compassion Scale questionnaires.

Results: The questionnaire scores of the nursing students were above the average, with 63.91 ± 14.54 for the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and 82.68 ± 11.32 for the Self-Handicapping Scale; their self-compassion level was high, with a mean of 13.92 ± 2.87 points on the Self-Compassion Scale. We found a significant negative correlation between the mean scores of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (r = -0.409; p = 0.000) and the Self-Compassion Scale (r = -0.524; p = 0.000) with the Self-Handicapping Scale. We also obtained a positive and significant correlation between the mean scores of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and the Self-Compassion Scale (r = 0.486; p = 0.000). According to the regression analysis, the effect of these two scales on the Self-Compassion Scale was 30.2%.

Conclusions: Considering the study results, we can argue that as the students' resilience and self-compassion increase, their tendency to self-handicap decreases. For health professionals and patients' safety, it is very important to determine the levels of resilience, self-handicapping, and self-compassion because these factors may increase anxiety and stress in nursing students, affecting the proper care of patients during the work period.