Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of self-compassion writing on depression, anxiety, subjective well-being, and quality of life among breast cancer patients. Promotional posters were posted on the online community for breast cancer patients, and patients who voluntarily wanted to participate were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to experimental group (n=16) and wait-control group (n=14). The experimental group participated in the self-compassion writing program using a video conference program (ZOOM). For the experimental group, the self-compassion writing program was completed over a period of two weeks, twice weekly, four sessions in total, and each session took approximately 60 minutes. As measuring tools, Korean Version of Self-Compassion Scale (K-SCS), State Self-Compassion Scale-Short Form (SSCS-SF), Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), Stress Response Inventory (SRI), Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), Life Satisfaction Expectancy Scale (LSES), and Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B) were used. All participants completed the pre-test, post-test, two weeks follow-up test. Analysis results are as follow: Compared to the wait-control group, the experimental group's self-compassion, state self-compassion, and quality of life significantly increased, while depression, trait anxiety and stress response significantly decreased. However, there were no significant differences in state anxiety, and subjective well-being. Last, the implications and limitations of this study, and suggestions for future studies are discussed.