| Abstract [eng] |
Body-self unity and self-compassion in adapting to atopic dermatitis. Jogailė Jurkutė. Vilnius: Vilnius University, 2020, 72 p. Like other chronic conditions, atopic dermatitis (AD) is a threat to the afflicted person’s good psychosocial functioning. On the other hand, perhaps due to the long-standing underappreciation of the hardships caused by skin disease, it is not clear which factors are relevant in prognosticating adaptation to AD. The aim of this cross-sectional study is to evaluate the aspects of body-self unity and self-compassion of people with AD and to reveal which disease-related and psychological factors are important in predicting adaptation to AD. Based on studies of adaptation to various chronic conditions, this study raised a hypothesis that body-self unity and self-compassion are important to successful adjustment to AD. The sample was comprised of 81 persons with AD (aged 19-60 years), 71 female and 10 males, who were asked to fill out the short form Self-compassion scale, Body Experience and Adjustment to Chronic Skin Diseases questionnaires online. Path analysis results showed that disrupted body-self unity or bodily alienation significantly increases social anxiety, avoidance, itch-scratch cycle-induced adversity, helplessness and negative impact on quality of life. Even though self-compassion does not permit a reliable prognosis of adaptation, self-coldness, a type of negative relation-to-self containing more than the absence of self-compassion significantly increases the anxious - depressive mood of the sick. Key words: adaptation to atopic dermatitis, body – self unity, self – compassion. |
