Introduction: Bipolar disorder is a long-term, complicated mental illness that affects not only the patient's mental health, but also their family's psychological health and coping strategies.
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a compassion-based intervention program on coping patterns among family caregivers of patients with bipolar disorder.
Methods: From June 2023 to March 2024, a study utilizing a one-group pre- and postinterventional design evaluated 50 family caregivers of patients with bipolar disorder. The study was conducted in an outpatient clinic at the Institute of Psychiatry affiliated with Ain Shams University Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt. The program consisted of 16 consecutive sessions, each lasting approximately 45 to 60 min. Researchers used a predesigned questionnaire to collect data pre- and postintervention to assess the sociodemographic data, self-compassion scale, and coping strategies inventory.
Results: Prior to the compassion intervention program, the study found that 62% of the evaluated family caregivers had low self-compassion; however, after the compassion intervention program, a highly significant improvement was observed, with 54% having high self-compassion (p < .01). Likewise, in the compassion intervention program, the study revealed that 60% of the family caregivers had a high use of disengagement coping patterns; however, in the postcompassion intervention program, a highly significant improvement was observed, with 64% having a high use of engagement coping patterns (p < .01).
Conclusion: The Compassion-Based Intervention Program has a positive effect on enhancing coping patterns and self-compassion among family caregivers of patients with bipolar disorder. Therefore, psychiatric nurses and mental health practitioners should collaborate in designing holistic caregiver support strategies that incorporate self-compassion techniques alongside traditional therapeutic approaches.
Keywords: bipolar disorder; coping patterns; family caregivers; self-compassion.
© The Author(s) 2025.