title: Self-compassion and positive solitude experiences enhance well-being for informal caregivers of older adults, and middle and older adults
Creators: name: Wiita, Farah Louise
Publisher: name: University of Reading
Year: 2025

description: Self-compassion has been found useful in supporting resilience and well-being when tested in 
general populations and can be especially useful during periods that are prone to rumination 
and isolation. Little is known about the nature and importance of self-compassion in informal
caregivers of older adults. Yet informal caregivers often experience such psychological 
burdens when providing care for their loved one. Many are themselves older adults, and their 
time away from others’ expectations – in solitude – is a potential resource for self-care. The 
work developed within this thesis aimed to build an understanding of self-compassion as a 
resource for caregivers (the first two empirical papers, Chapters 2 and 3), and during solitude 
moments in middle and older adults (the final empirical chapter, Chapter 4). Chapter 2
explores the definition and meaning of self-compassion for caregivers through interviews, 
providing a foundation for later research in this population. For these caregivers, the concept 
of self-compassion involved identifying one’s own needs and prioritising them. Self-compassion was accessed through a mindset in which challenges were viewed with clarity 
and acceptance, and boundaries were maintained through protecting a separate identity. 
Feeling connected with other people was important to protect from ‘aloneness’. However, 
barriers to self-compassion were experienced when compromises were necessary to fulfil
recipients’ needs and where demands on caregivers’ resources were particularly high. This 
research highlighted that ‘self-care’ and ‘self-kindness’ were central to self-compassion. In 
Chapter 3, the utility of self-compassionate writing for caregivers was tested, with caregivers 
writing about difficult caregiving experiences with self-kindness, common humanity, and 
mindfulness (the three self-compassion components). Studies 2 and 3 showed self-kindness 
was particularly important for well-being in caregivers, and in Study 4 common humanity 
and self-kindness were most strongly linked with beneficial mood outcomes (higher serenity, 
less guilt, and less sadness).
Findings from this research, and from the literature, showed that caregivers of older
adults were often middle and older adults themselves, caring for a spouse or an older parent.
It was further highlighted that their solitude was a vulnerable time for rumination and 
isolation when individuals are in difficult circumstances, but also potentially as a time for 
great self-care with the right mindset. The final empirical chapter spanning Studies 5 and 6 
highlighted that, of three self-compassion constructs (self-kindness, common humanity, and 
mindfulness), self-kindness was a particularly robust correlate of better mood (higher 
serenity; less sadness; Study 5). Findings from research with a young adult sample (Study 5) 
helped shape a targeted intervention for older adults in Study 6. Middle and older adult 
participants therefore engaged in planned solitude experiences targeted towards self-kindness, specifically (Study 6). Those who completed self-kindness activities in planned 
solitude experienced greater serenity and vitality. In all, self-kindness appeared to be an 
important facilitator for increasing self-compassion in young, middle, and older adults, and 
was also important for caregiving populations.