Investigating the Effect of Body Awareness Training on Self-Compassion, Body Awareness, and Somatic Symptoms in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
Keywords:
Body awareness, self-compassion, body awareness, rheumatoid arthritis, somatic symptoms, stress managementAbstract
Rheumatoid arthritis, in addition to its physical consequences, can be associated with negative psychological effects such as anxiety, stress, and reduced self-compassion. The present study was conducted with the aim of examining the effect of body awareness training on self-compassion, body awareness, and somatic symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2024 in Kashan among patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. The patients were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received the body awareness training intervention, whereas the control group received no intervention. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires measuring self-compassion, body awareness, and somatic symptom severity, and were analyzed using multivariate and univariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA and ANCOVA). Body awareness training significantly increased self-compassion and body awareness among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (p < .001). Furthermore, the severity of somatic symptoms decreased in the experimental group compared to the control group (p < .001). The eta squared statistic indicated that the intervention explained 52% of the combined variance of the dependent variables. The results of between-group analyses, after controlling for pretest scores, demonstrated significant differences between the experimental and control groups in body awareness, self-compassion, and somatic symptoms, indicating a strong and significant effect of the training on improving body awareness, enhancing self-compassion, and reducing somatic symptoms. Body awareness training can be used as a complementary intervention alongside medical treatments to improve self-compassion, body awareness, and somatic symptoms in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Mahsa Goldipoor , Batol Zamani (Author); Abdollah Omidi
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