Stigma, self-compassion, and psychological distress among people with Parkinson’s

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic and clinical characteristics of sample.

Variable	Mean (SD)	Range
Age (years)	64.68 (9.42)	19–72
Time since diagnosis (years)	5.21 (4.86)	0–30
FSQ subscale scores
Basic activities of daily living	84.79 (16.14)	33.33–100
Intermediate activities of daily living	73.76 (24.13)	0–100
Variable	Frequency	Percentage
Gender
Female	74	56.9
Male	56	43.1
Ethnic group or background:
British (English/Northern Irish/Scottish/Welsh)	124	95.4
Irish	3	2.3
Traveller	1	0.8
Any other White background, please describe	1	0.8
Any other ethnic background, please describe	1	0.8
Location
England	115	88.5
Scotland	8	6.2
Wales	4	3.1
Northern Ireland	3	2.3
Living arrangements
By myself	26	20
With my spouse/partner/family/friends/others	101	77.7
Other (please describe)	1	0.8
I'd prefer not to say	1	0.8
With a live-in carer	1	0.8
Partnership status
Spouse or partner, co-habiting	96	73.8
Spouse or partner, living separately	9	6.9
I do not have a spouse or partner	21	16.2
Other	4	3.1
Employment status
In full-time education	2	1.5
Employed (full-time)	11	8.5
Employed (part-time)	7	5.4
Self-employed	7	5.4
Unemployed	1	0.8
Retired	90	69.2
Unable to work	9	6.9
Other	3	2.3
Current treatment for Parkinson’s symptoms^a
Prescribed oral medication	120	92.3
DBS	4	3.1
Apomorphine/duodopa pump	3	2.3
Other	10	7.7

DBS: deep brain stimulation; CBD oil: cannabidiol oil.

^a Some participants were using more than one type of treatment therefore percentages do not sum to 100.

Table 2. Descriptive statistics for standardised measures.

Measure	Mean (SD)	Range
SSCI scores
Felt stigma	31.20 (11.38)	13–63
Enacted stigma	17.55 (7.57)	11–41
Total stigma	48.75 (17.50)	24–96
SCS scaled score	3.08 (0.78)	1.25–4.78
Self-kindness	2.77 (0.89)	1.00–4.60
Self-judgement	3.23 (1.05)	1.00–5.00
Humanity	2.98 (1.03)	1.00–5.00
Isolation	3.10 (1.17)	1.00–5.00
Mindfulness	3.15 (0.96)	1.00–5.00
Over-identification	3.23 (1.20)	1.00–5.00
DASS-21 total scores
Depression	6.46 (5.80)	0–21
Anxiety	5.79 (4.11)	0–18
Anxiety (item 7 removed)	4.31 (3.80)	0–17
Stress	7.36 (5.57)	0–20

SD: standard deviation; FSQ: Functional Status Questionnaire; ADLs: activities of daily living; SSCI: Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness; SCS: Self-Compassion Scale; DASS-21: Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale.

Table 3. Spearman’s rho correlations between variables.

	Age	Years since diagnosis	Basic ADLs (FSQ)	Intermediate ADLs (FSQ)	Felt stigma (SSCI)	Enacted stigma (SSCI)	Total stigma (SSCI)	Self compassion (SCS)	Depression (DASS)	Anxiety (DASS)	Stress (DASS)
Age	–	0.211*	–0.087	–0.145	–0.307***	–0.379***	–0.356***	0.209*	–0.131	–0.130	–0.209*
Years since diagnosis	–	–	–0.376***	–0.323***	0.082	0.183*	0.138	–0.015	0.041	0.138	0.067
Basic ADLs	–	–	–	0.685***	–0.417***	–0.395***	–0.464***	0.187*	–0.252**	–0.381***	–0.270**
Intermediate ADLs	–	–	–	–	–0.372***	–0.346***	–0.397***	0.096	–0.218*	–0.390***	–0.262**
Felt stigma	–	–	–	–	–	0.720***	0.959***	–0.561***	0.637***	0.582***	0.629***
Enacted stigma	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.869***	–0.397***	0.414***	0.466***	0.473***
Total stigma	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–0.528***	0.584***	0.584***	0.609***
Self-compassion	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–0.726***	–0.479***	–0.654***
Depression	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.674***	0.737***
Anxiety	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.666***

SD: standard deviation; FSQ: Functional Status Questionnaire; ADLs: activities of daily living; SSCI: Stigma Scale for Chronic Illness; SCS: Self-Compassion Scale; DASS-21: Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale; DASS-21 anxiety total used six-item subscale to increase internal consistency.

*p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001 two-tailed tests.

Figure 1. Mediation models. (a) Mediation diagram for depression. (b) Mediation diagram for anxiety. (c) Mediation diagram for stress.

(a) Path a (self-compassion to felt stigma), path b (felt stigma to depression) and path c' (self-compassion to depression) are all significant (confidence intervals not including zero). (b) Path a (self-compassion to felt stigma), path b (felt stigma to anxiety) and path c' (self-compassion to anxiety) are all significant (confidence intervals not including zero). (c) Path a (self-compassion to felt stigma), path b (felt stigma to stress) and path c' (self-compassion to stress) are all significant (confidence intervals not including zero).