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Self-compassion and mood fluctuations amongst cancer patients

Schouten, R.M. (2021) Self-compassion and mood fluctuations amongst cancer patients.

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Abstract:Introduction: The diagnosis of cancer brings a lot of physical and psychological difficulties. Self-compassion can help alleviate these problems, but it is unclear which levels of self-compassion are apparent and whether they fluctuate, or are stable over time. Method: Participants were recruited from two different hospitals by oncology nurses. By applying the experience sampling method (ESM) we study the diurnal patterns of participants by sending a questionnaire through the participants’ Smartphone four times a day (at random times during specific timeslots) for a week. Results: Mood and self-compassion strongly positively correlated with each other (p<0.001). No clear diurnal pattern could be found. Mornings, early afternoon, late afternoon, or evening did not show significant differences on various days for either self-compassion or mood. Conclusion: Although this study was limited in its sample size, the usage of the experience sampling method slightly made up for it by bringing many data points per respondent compared to cross-sectional research. The experience sampling method was the strength of the study, by allowing to depict the diurnal patterns, and giving insight into how this changes for patients with cancer. Cancer patients show some variance within and between days for mood and self-compassion. It was found that self-compassion correlates strongly with both positive mood, and negatively with negative mood over time.
Item Type:Essay (Master)
Faculty:BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:77 psychology
Programme:Psychology MSc (66604)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/86242
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