ArticlePLOS mental health2026
Does self-compassion moderate the relationship between stigma, pain and psychological well-being among people living with sickle cell disease in Ghana?
Article in PLOS mental health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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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.
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