Effects of MSC Intervention on the Dyadic Mental Health of Lung Cancer Patients and Their Caregivers

The incidence and mortality of lung cancer ranks first among cancers in the world, and the five-year survival rate of lung cancer patients is only 15% to 30%. Lung cancer patients bear a great psychological pressure, prone to anger, isolation, anxiety, depression, self-esteem and other psychological problems. The incidence of psychological disorders in lung cancer patients was 24.2 to 73.4%. A diagnosis of cancer not only causes physical and mental pain to the patient, but also has a huge impact on the family and their caregivers. As patients'primary coping resources, caregivers have to bear both physical and mental pressures. Therefore, it is worth to attention the mental health of lung cancer patients and their caregivers. With the further deepening of self-concept research and the integration of Buddhist thought and psychology, the new concept of 'self-compassion' was proposed and developed. Self-compassion means that individuals treat themselves like their friends, with a friendly and tolerant attitude; maintains an objective and rational attitude towards the individual's own situation at all times; thinks that pain is a common experience shared by others, and everyone should be understood and sympathized. At the same time, self-compassion not only includes acceptance and affirmation of oneself, but also connects oneself with others, advocating that one should sympathize with oneself as sympathizing with others, providing the possibility of emotional connection between patients and their caregivers. Therefore, the study of mindfulness and self-compassion is expected to provide a reference for improving the dyadic mental health of lung cancer patient-caregiver dyads in China. Mindfulness Self-Compassion (MSC) is a positive psychology intervention method that covers the concept of self-compassion developed by Neff and Germer on the basis of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction. MSC is a 2.5-hour weekly, 8-week standardized training course. Some studies have shown that MSC can promote the emotional health of cancer patients and buffer their mental symptoms. To sum up, the current mindfulness self-compassion training program has been applied to some cancer patients, and shows that the intervention has a positive effect, while the research in China has only been initially applied in the student population, and has not been applied in the field of cancer. Therefore, for lung cancer patient-caregiver dyad, the researchers can learn from the experience of mindfulness self-compassion training and develop a dyadic mental health intervention program based on Chinese condition. The current study aims to verify the effect of the dyadic mindfulness self-compassion intervention program for lung cancer patients and their caregivers, and explore its mechanism.

Sex

All

Minimum age

18 Years

For lung cancer patients

Inclusion Criteria:

* Diagnosed with lung cancer by pathological biopsy or cytology;
* The disease condition is relatively stable;
* Must be conscious, with normal communication ability;
* Must be volunteered to join the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Share a hospital room with a current study participant;
* With other types of cancer;
* Alcoholics and/or drug addicts;
* Disabilities and cannot take care of themselves.

For caregivers

Inclusion Criteria:

* A primary caregiver designated by a lung cancer patient who has been included in this study, with a cumulative care time of more than 72 hours;
* One of the family members of a hospitalized lung cancer patient, such as their spouse, children, parents or other relatives
* must be conscious, with normal communication ability;
* must be volunteered to join the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Have an employment relationship with the patient, such as nurses and nanny；
* Alcoholics and/or drug addicts;
* Disabilities and cannot take care of themselves.

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