The Effectiveness of the Self-Compassion Training on Life Satisfaction and Resilience of the Elderly Women

The ageing period is associated with losses, such as loss of social status, spouse, and so on, which reduces the resilience of the elderly against the difficulties and hardships of life, in turn, reduces life satisfaction in the elderly. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to survey the effectiveness of the self-compassion training on life satisfaction and resilience of the elderly women. This quasi-experimental study was of pretest-posttest and control group design with a follow-up. The statistical population consisted of all the elderly women (about 500) who were under rehabilitation, education and care in nursing homes as well as rehabilitation, education and care centers supervising by welfare-organization in Guilan, Iran in 2020. A sample of 30 individuals were selected using purposeful sampling method along with inclusion and exclusion criteria, and randomly assigned into two groups with 15 members in each. The experimental group received eight sessions of Gilbert ̓s self-compassion training and control group received no intervention at the same time. Participants were evaluated using Diener et al.’s Life Satisfaction Questionnaire and Conner & Davidson’s Resilience Questionnaire. Used to analyze the data was Univariate Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). The results of revealed that self-compassion increased life satisfaction and resilience of the elderly women and this increase was permanent in the follow-up step (P<0.05). Therefore, based on the findings, self-compassion training can be used as an effective model in nursing homes to promote resilience, life satisfaction and positive psychological characteristics of the elderly women.