Associations between mindfulness, psychological distress, and coping among hematopoietic stem cell transplant caregivers.

Abstract

e18567 Background: Caregivers of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HCT) patients experience significant distress due to the demands involved in caregiving (e.g., monitoring symptoms, managing medications, coordinating appointments). Therefore, identifying protective factors that promote coping for this population is essential. Mindfulness has been linked to reduced psychological distress and improved coping in the general population, yet its potential among HCT caregivers is not well characterized. This study examined baseline associations between mindfulness, psychological distress, and coping difficulty prior to transplant. Methods: As part of a randomized controlled trial, this study conducted a cross-sectional analysis of data from caregivers (N=279), who completed baseline measures of general trait mindfulness (FFMQ), attentional awareness (MAAS), perceived stress (PSS), depressive symptoms (CES-D), and anxiety (GAD-7). Coping was assessed through Likert items rating coping difficulty (from 0=not at all to 5=all the time) and current coping ability (from 0=none to 5=excellent). All measures were completed 1-2 weeks pre-transplant. Associations were examined using nonparametric Spearman’s rho correlations. Results: Caregivers ranged from 22-65 years old ( M =58, SD =13.5) and were mostly female (72%), White (92%), and non-Hispanic (90%); 84% had some college education or above. Higher FFMQ scores (i.e., greater trait mindfulness) were associated with lower perceived stress, r (277)=-.52, depressive symptoms, r (276)=-.60, and anxiety, r (277)=-.46. Higher MAAS scores (i.e., greater attentional awareness) were negatively correlated with perceived stress, r (277) = -.55, depressive symptoms, r (276)=-.59, and anxiety, r (277)=-.58. More coping difficulty was positively correlated with perceived stress, r (277)=.64, depressive symptoms, r (276)=.66, and anxiety, r (277)=.61. More coping difficulty was negatively correlated with total FFMQ, r (277)=-.46, and MAAS, r (277)=-.51, scores. Current coping ability was positively correlated with FFMQ, r (277)=.53 and MAAS, r (277)=.33. All reported correlations were significant at p <.001. Conclusions: Caregivers reporting higher trait mindfulness and attentional awareness experienced lower psychological distress and less coping difficulty. Based on these results, future research should examine whether mindfulness mediates the relationship between distress and coping, which was unable to be examined here since these data were cross sectional. Additionally, studies including more demographically diverse caregiver samples are needed to improve generalizability. Because mindfulness is a skill that can be cultivated through structured interventions, it may represent a modifiable target for improving caregiver distress and coping during the allogeneic HCT process. Clinical trial information: NCT05078229 .