Examining the psychological resilience levels of the caregiver mothers of children undergoing cancer treatment in the context of perceived social support and self-compassion

Objective: Childhood cancer is refers to cancers that occur in individuals between the ages of 0 and 15, most commonly in the under-5 and 10-15 age groups. When a child is diagnosed with cancer, close family members, including mothers, suddenly find themselves in a challenging caregiving process that requires intensive caregiving without professional training in providing care. Accordingly, the aim of this study was to examine the psychological resilience levels of the cancer caregiver mothers of children aged 0-15 years who are undergoing cancer treatment in the context of perceived social support and self-compassion. The variables were also examined in terms of various demographic characteristics. Method: 40 cancer caregiver mothers participated in the study. The Resilience Scale for Adults (RSA), Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale (MSPSS) and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) were administered to the participants. In line with the research objectives, independent samples t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation test and regression analyses were applied. Results: As a result of the analyses, it was observed that both perceived social support and self-compassion showed a moderate positive correlation with psychological resilience. No statistically significant relationship was found between perceived social support and self-compassion. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that psychological resilience was predicted by perceived social support and self-compassion. Conclusion: As a result of the research findings, it was concluded that psychological resilience levels of caregiver mothers were predicted by perceived social support and self-compassion. The findings were discussed in the light of the literature and recommendations were made. Keywords: Psychological Resilience, Perceived Social Support, Self-Compassion, Cancer, Caregiver.