University of Twente Student Theses
An evaluation of the Compas-Y app : effects of a mobile self-compassion intervention on self-compassion, anxiety and depression
Klieverik, L.B.M. (2022) An evaluation of the Compas-Y app : effects of a mobile self-compassion intervention on self-compassion, anxiety and depression.
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| Full Text Status: | Access to this publication is restricted |
| Embargo date: | 5 September 2024 |
| Abstract: | Background: In 2021 approximately 124.000 people were diagnosed with cancer in the Netherlands. It is an important area to study, as living with cancer have been shown to be associated with a number of negative psychological health outcomes. Studies indicate that half of all cancer patients develop a psychiatric disorder, frequently an anxiety disorder or a depression. This comes with many concerns, hence designing interventions that are successful in treating or preventing psychological symptoms is important. Self-compassion has been identified as a promising framework within which to ground interventions aiming to reduce these psychological symptoms. Despite the potential of self-compassion interventions for cancer patients, relatively few interventions exist, and moreover, the interventions that do exist have difficulties in finding participants. The use of technology to practice self-compassion can increase efficiency, improve access and improve the quality of care , thereby reaching patients who may not have participated otherwise. The current study reports on a evaluation of the mobile app Compas-Y, created for recently diagnosed cancer patients. Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the use and appreciation of the Compas-Y app, to assess whether completing the self-compassion intervention positively impacts depression and anxiety symptoms and the levels of self-compassion within participants, and to understand who can benefit from the intervention. Methods: This study was part of an overarching mixed method study about a self-compassion intervention app for recently diagnosed cancer patients. For this study the purposive sampling method was used. The participants were recruited from two hospitals with the help of Oncology nurses. The study had a one-group pre-test post-test design with assessments conducted at baseline (T0) and post intervention (T1). The participants participated in an 8-week self-compassion mobile app intervention. The questionnaires contained questions on demographics and illness related variables (only at T0), use and appreciation of the app (only at T1) and a number of potential outcome variables: self-compassion, anxiety and depressive feelings (assessed at T0 and T1). Results: A total of 37 participants were included in the analysis. The mean age (SD) was 52.3 (10.7) years. The Compas-Y app was overall positively appreciated and well used by the participants, yet the drop out number was quite high. This study found a significant decrease in anxiety from T0 to T1 (p = .002), although it did not find significant differences on depression (p = .548) and self-compassion (p = .281). This study also found a significant medium correlation between the changes in self-compassion and changes in depression (r(35) = -.424, p = .009), indicating that an improvement in self-compassion was associated with a decrease in depression. The small correlation between changes in self-compassion and changes in anxiety was found to be in the same direction, however this correlation was not significant (r(35) = -.26, p = .120). Lastly, this study found a nearly significant medium correlation between the changes in self-compassion and the appreciation of the Compas-Y app (r(31) = -.340, p = .053), indicating that a higher appreciation of the Compas-Y app was associated with bigger improvements in self-compassion. Conclusion: This study presents an evaluation of a mobile-based intervention for anxiety and depression within recently diagnosed cancer patients, grounded in self-compassion. As such, this study bridges a gap in the knowledge about mobile interventions targeting psychological symptoms within cancer patients. This study found a decrease in anxiety after the intervention, however this result should be interpretated with care, since no control group was used it is unclear which mechanism caused this decrease. Besides that, despite the fact that the intervention failed in increasing the levels of self-compassion, the findings provide preliminary evidence that an increase in self-compassion is associated with a decrease in depression. This study also provides preliminary evidence that a higher appreciation of the app is associated with bigger improvements in self-compassion. Future research should aim to clarify the mechanisms of action of the intervention and who is most likely to benefit from it, and examine its capacity to achieve significant effects on self-compassion. |
| 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/92750 |
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