Structural Equation Model Of The Relationship Between Self-compassion,Caregiver Burden And Psychological Distress Among Caregivers Of CHF Patients

ObjectiveBased on the ABC-X family stress theory model,this paper explores the relationship between self-compassion,caregiver burden and psychological distress in caregivers of chronic heart failure patients,and provides empirical evidence for developing intervention programs to improve the mental health of caregivers of chronic heart failure patients.MethodsThe convenience sampling method was used to select the caregivers of patients with chronic heart failure as the research subjects,hospitalized in the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine of a tertiary hospital in Hefei City,Anhui Province,from March to December 2021.They were investigated using the General Situation Questionnaire,Self-Compassion Scale,Zarit Burden Interview and the 10-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale.After the data has been filtered and entered into Excel,Descriptive statistics,Pearson correlation analysis,Multiple linear regression analysis and other statistical methods provided by SPSS 23.0 statistical software were used to analyze the data.Then use AMOS 24.0 to build a structural equation model between self-compassion,caregiver burden and psychological distress to analyze the relationship between the action paths of the three variables.Results1.After data analysis,it was concluded that psychological distress score of chronic heart failure patients’caregiver was（18.90±5.72）points,caregiver burden score was（26.50±11.26）points,and self-compassion score was（91.31±9.77）points.2.Univariate analysis showed that if these factors were different,there was a statistically significant difference in caregivers’psychological distress scores,including patient’s cardiac function classification,patient’s self-care ability,caregiver’s awareness of patient’s condition,caregiver-patient relationship,caregiver’s family residence and whether caregiver lives with the patient.3.The results of correlation analysis showed that there was a negative correlation between the self-compassion of caregivers of chronic heart failure patients and their caregiver burden（r=-0.247,P<0.01）.Self-compassion and psychological distress were also negatively correlated（r=-0.472,P<0.01）.Caregiver burden was positively correlated with psychological distress（r=0.476,P<0.01）.4.Multivariate regression analysis results showed that caregiver’s family residence,self-compassion and caregiver burden were the main factors affecting their psychological distress level,which together explained 37.9%of the variance（ΔR~2=0.379,F=19.413,P<0.001）.5.Use AMOS to build a structural equation model of self-compassion,caregiver burden and psychological distress among caregivers of chronic heart failure patients.The final model fitness indicators are:NC=1.420,RESEA=0.042,GFI=0.993,AGFI=0.965,NFI=0.974,IFI=0.992,CFI=0.992,all meet the expected value,and the model fit is good and acceptable.In the model,the total effect of self-compassion on psychological distress is-0.459,of which the direct effect is-0.243,and the indirect effect of caregiver burden on psychological distress is-0.216.ConclusionsIn this study,most caregivers of patients with chronic heart failure perceived a mild of caregiver burden and had a certain degree of psychological distress.Self-compassion level of caregivers is better,and self-compassion can influence caregivers’psychological distress,not only through the direct path,but also through the indirect path of caregiver burden.Medical staff can reduce caregiver burden and psychological distress by cultivating caregivers to express self-compassion.