Self-kindness as a protective factor: mitigating the impact of social restriction on mental health of family caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic

Objectives During the COVID-19 pandemic, caregivers of people with dementia (PwD) face increased while managing their own mental health (MH). Self-kindness, or treating oneself with care and understanding, may serve as a protective factor. Caregivers' self-perceptions of health, as well as their perceptions of PwD's health, may influence this relationship. This study aimed to examine whether caregivers' health perceptions moderate the relationship between self-kindness and depressive symptoms during pandemic-related social restrictions in Brazil. Methods A total of 131 caregivers (87.1% women; mean age 51.3 +/- 14.3 years) participated in structured interviews assessing self-kindness, depressive symptomatology, care burden, dementia severity, and health perception (self and PwD). A three-way moderation model was tested with depressive symptomatology as the outcome. Predictors included Self-kindness and health perceptions; covariates were care burden, previous self-rated health and dementia severity. Results No significant relationship was found between self-kindness and depressive symptoms among caregivers who did not perceive a health decline. However, among those who perceived a decline in their own health, higher levels of self-kindness mitigated the negative impact on MH (beta = 0.56; SE = 0.22; p < 0.05). Conclusion Self-kindness may serve as a protective psychological resources for caregivers, particularly when they perceive a deterioration in their own health.