Does self-compassion moderate the relationship between stigma, pain and psychological well-being among people living with sickle cell disease in Ghana?

PLOS Ment Health. 2026 Feb 23;3(2):e0000556. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmen.0000556. eCollection 2026.

ABSTRACT

Sickle cell disease (SCD), a chronic genetic disorder, is associated with severe pain, stigma, and psychological distress, particularly in low-resource settings like Ghana. In this study, we used convenient and purposive sampling to explore the role of self-compassion in relation to pain, stigma, specifically SCD-related stigma encompassing social exclusion, internalized stigma, disclosure concerns, anticipated discrimination, and psychological well-being among people living with SCD. We recruited 138 adults (46, [33.3%] males, 92, [66.7%] females; mean age = 30.99, SD = 8.44) with SCD from two Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) in Accra, Ghana. Self-compassion had significant negative correlations with pain (r = -.21, p <.01) and stigma (r = -.37, p <.01), and a positive correlation with psychological well-being (r =.53, p <.01). It also independently predicted better psychological well-being (B = 1.93, p <.001), emphasizing its supporting role in well-being. However, self-compassion did not moderate the effects of pain (B =.02, p =.512) or stigma (B = -.02, p =.852) on psychological well-being. Future research should explore the implementation of interventional studies focused on enhancing self-compassion to examine its causal effects on pain management, stigma reduction, and improvements in psychological well-being among individuals living with sickle cell disease.

PMID:41729902 | DOI:10.1371/journal.pmen.0000556