The relationship between self-compassion and cognitive flexibility in women and health improvement

This research was conducted as a relationship deceptive and cross-sectional descriptive research to assess the relationship between self-compassion, cognitive flexibility, and health enhancement. The universe of research was made up of 1135 adult women enrolled in Koçyazı District Family Health Center No. 5 . The sample consisted of 411 women. The introductory data form, self-compassion Scale, cognitive flexibility scale and healthy lifestyle II scale were used as data collection tools. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and structural equality model were used in the analysis of the obtained data. The average self-compassion score of the women participating in the study was 3.13±0.402, the average cognitive flexibility score was 49.18±6,758, and the average healthy lifestyle score was 129.90±20,072. Self-compassion significant moderate positive there was a linear relationship between cognitive flexibility (r=0,330; p<0.001), self-compassion with significant moderate positive linear relationship was found between health promotion (r=0,324; p<0.001). It was observed that there was a moderately positive and significant linear relationship between cognitive flexibility and healthy lifestyle (r=0.385; p<0.001).The direct effect of self-compassion on health improvement was found to be statistically significant (p<0.001). When cognitive flexibility, which is variable in the tool, was added to the model, the effect from self-compassion to cognitive flexibility was statistically significant (p<0.001), while the direct effect of self-compassion on a healthy lifestyle also maintained its statistical significance. In the model created, a relationship between self-compassion and health improvement was found, whether cognitive flexibility or not. He also assumed the role of partial intermediary between self-compassion and health promotion in cognitive flexibility. Since self-compassion and cognitive flexibility can be improved through education, it is possible that methods used to raise the level of self-compassion and cognitive flexibility can also be useful for improving health. Key Words: Cognitive Flexibility, Health, Health Improvement, Self-Compassion, Women