THE EFFECT OF A SELF-COMPASSION INTERVENTION ON MENTAL HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING IN ELDERLY WOMEN

Paper ID : 1611-SPORTCONGRESS (R1)

Authors

Elahe Nouri *1, محبوبه غیور نجف آبادی2 1دانشجو 2استاد دانشگاه تهران

Abstract

Aging is associated with declines in physical and mental functioning, which may often reduce the overall personal and social quality of life in older women. Recent research suggests that self-compassion can improve emotional health, resilience, and coping with mental and physical problems. there is limited evidence regarding its impact on physical functioning in older populations. This study aimed to investigate the impact of a self-compassion intervention on mental health and physical functioning in older women. This study was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a controlled group. Twenty-four elderly women aged 60 to 75 years living in Yas Nursing Home in Tehran were randomly assigned to an intervention group (n=12) and a control group (n=12). The intervention group participated in eight 60-minute weekly sessions of self-compassion training, including self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness exercises. The control group received no intervention. Data were collected using the Self-Compassion Scale-Long Form (SCS-LF), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), and physical tests. Data were analyzed using ANOVA (p < 0.05). Kolmogorov-Smirnov test confirmed that all dependent variables were normally distributed (p > 0.05). Paired t-test results showed that the intervention significantly improved self-compassion and physical functioning scores from pre-test to post-test compared with the control group (p < 0.05). Bonferroni post hoc comparisons showed that self-compassion, motor training each significantly increased physical functioning among participants (p < 0.05). However, there was no significant overlap between the effects of the two interventions (p > 0.05). In contrast, the control group did not show any significant improvement in physical or mental during the study period (p > 0.05). The findings indicate that self-compassion training can effectively improve mental and physical in older women. These results that self-compassion in elder care programs is helpful as a way to promote mental health and functional independence in old age.

Keywords

self-compassion, mental health, physical functioning

Status: Abstract Accepted (Poster Presentation)