Moderating Role of Self-compassion in Relation to Psychopathological Symptoms and God Attachment inWomen With Breast Cancer

Background: In many of past studies, the strong role of God as an attachmentfigure in reducing psychopathological symptoms has been confirmed. In an effort toaccount for the effectiveness of attachment to God in mitigating psychopathologicalsymptoms in healthy people we came upon self-compassion as a potentialmediating variable in this process. Hence, in the current research, we studied thisrelation in Iranian Muslim women diagnosed with breast cancer.Methods: A total of ۳۶۰ Muslim women diagnosed with breast cancer wereasked to fill the Attachment to God Inventory, Self-Compassion Scale, andDepression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. Data were analyzed using path analysismethod with AMOS ۲۲. Results: The anxiety dimension of attachment to God was significantlycorrelated with the severity of anxiety, but the avoidance dimension had no directeffect on any of the symptoms. Also, the anxiety dimension was found to bepositively correlated with depression and stress indirectly via self-compassion.However, in the case of the avoidance dimension, no such relationship wasobserved. As a result, attachment anxiety causes a decrease in self-compassion inthis group of women, and this, in turn, results in more severe psychopathologicalsymptoms like anxiety, stress, and depression. Conclusion: Considering the results of this study, we conclude thatimprovements in the mental health of Muslim women diagnosed with breast cancerare not exclusively achieved by attachment to material symbols. Rather, attachmentto God as a spiritual symbol can have a great impact on the mental health of thesewomen. In fact, secure attachment to God can help improve mental health throughpositive effects on self-compassion and should be considered as a treatment inpsychological interventions.

Keywords:

Breast cancer , attachment to God , depression , anxiety , self-compassion