Investigating the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between attachment and post-traumatic growth in patients improved from Covid-19

The aim of this study was to determine the mediating role of self-compassion in relationship attachment and post-traumatic growth in patients recovering from Covid-19. The present study was a correlational study using structural equation analysis. The statistical population of the study included people who improved from Covid-19 and were active in virtual social networks in the year 2021. 204 people were selected as the sample by available sampling and online response methods. The research instruments included Tedeschi and Calhoun's (1996) posttraumatic growth inventory(PTGI) Hazan and Shaver's (1987)  adult attachment questionnaire (AAQ) and Raes et al. (2011) short form of the self‐compassion scale (SCS). Structural equation analysis was used to analyze the data. The results showed that the direct effect of anxiety attachment (β = -0.02 and P=0.90) and avoidant attachment (β = 0.04 and P=0.43) on post-traumatic growth was not significant but the direct effect of secure attachment was significant (β = 0.34 and P= 0.01). The results also showed that the effect of security (β = 0.09 and P = 0.01), anxiety (β = -0.07 and P=0.01), and avoidance attachment (β = -0.10 and P=0.01) mediated by self-compassion was significant on post-traumatic growth. Finally, the results showed that the research model had a good fit. The results showed that self-compassion is a significant mediator of the relationship between attachment and post-traumatic growth in patients recovering from Covid-19, which can be considered in post-traumatic growth promotion training and interventions.