Self-Compassion in Diabetic Patients: Relationships of Type-D Personality with Psychological Well-Being and Self-Care

Objective: This research investigated the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship of type D personality with psychological well-being and self-care behaviors in patients with type 2 diabetes.Research Method: The statistical population of this research included all patients with type 2 diabetes in the cities of Rasht and Rezvanshahr in 2020-2021. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 368 patients were selected through purposive consecutive sampling. The participants completed the questionnaire of the summary of diabetes self-care activities (SDSCA), type D personality scale (DS-14), Ryff’s scale of psychological well-being (RSPWB), and self-compassion scale – short form (SCS-SF). The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) in AMOS-24. Bootstrapping analysis was carried out via Preacher and Hayes’ (2008) macro to analyze the mediating relationships.Results: According to the bootstrapping analysis, self-compassion significantly mediates the relationship of type D personality with psychological well-being and self-care behaviors (in all cases p 0.0001). The coefficient of determination of the final model demonstrated that all exogenous and medicating variables could predict 89% of the psychological well-being changes and 87% of self-care behaviors.Conclusions: Self-compassion can serve as a buffer and reduce the destructive effects of the type D personality on psychological well-being and self-care behaviors in diabetic patients. Thus, taking measures to train and strengthen self-compassion is essential in the psychological treatment of diabetic patients.