Design and Evaluation of Self-Compassion Scale in Iranian Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Aims: How people react to stressful and painful situations, such as suffering from a chronic disease like multiple sclerosis, is influenced by various factors, one of which is self-compassion. Self-compassion has a psychological nature and significant efficiency in the care and treatment of chronic patients. Existing tools have not paid attention to the characteristics of people suffering from chronic diseases such as MS in using self-compassion for managing the disease. Therefore, the present study aimed to design a questionnaire to measure self-compassion in patients with MS. Instrument Methods: The present study is methodological research that was conducted in qualitative and quantitative parts. The items were designed based on the qualitative part of the study and review of texts. The validation characteristics of the questionnaire were performed using face validity, content, and structure. The reliability was assessed by internal consistency and stability methods. Findings: In the qualitative phase, 78 initial items were extracted. After calculating the item impact score index with values higher than 1.5, content validity ratio higher than 0.51, and content validity index higher than 0.79, 73 items were selected. Confirmatory and then exploratory factor analysis was performed. The internal consistency of the questionnaire was 0.813, and the stability of the questionnaire was 0.778. Conclusion: Self-compassion scale in patients with MS is a valid and reliable tool in Iranian society. Since Neff theory was used as a guiding framework in this study, the tool can also be used for non-Iranian patients to understand their perception and experiences.