ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Psycho-Oncology
This article is part of the Research TopicInnovations in Psychological Care for Oncology and Palliative Settings: A Holistic ApproachView all 26 articles
Social support and self-compassion mediate the relationship between alexithymia and quality of life in postoperative breast cancer patients: A cross-sectional study
Provisionally accepted
- 1Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China
- 2Guangdong Women and Children Hospital, Guangzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Background: In breast cancer patients, alexithymia has been found to correlate with poorer quality of life. While previous research has established a connection between alexithymia and various outcomes, the mediating effect of social support and self-compassion — promoting quality of life — remains largely unexplored, underscoring the need for further investigation in this area. Objective: To examine the mediating role of social support and self-compassion in the association between alexithymia and quality of life in postoperative breast cancer patients. Methods: A cross-sectional correlational study was conducted among 324 postoperative breast cancer patients from a tertiary Grade A hospital in Guangzhou, China. Variables were measured using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast version 4.0 (FACT-Bv4.0), Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20), Social Support Rating Scale (SSRS), and Self-Compassion Scale (SCS). Data analyses were performed using descriptive analysis, independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, Pearson correlation analysis, and mediation analyses performed with Hayes' PROCESS macro for SPSS. Results: The study identified alexithymia was negatively associated with quality of life. Additionally, social support and self-compassion mediated the relationship between alexithymia and quality of life in postoperative breast cancer patients. Conclusion: The study highlights the complex interplay between alexithymia, quality of life, social support and self-compassion, emphasizing the significant mediating effects of social support and self-compassion among breast cancer patients. Additionally, the findings imply that interventions targeted at enhancing social support and self-compassion could manage the consequences of alexithymia, and ultimately improve their quality of life.
Keywords: Quality of Life, alexithymia, social support, self-compassion, breast cancer
Received: 10 Oct 2025; Accepted: 26 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liao, Hu, Xiao, Tang, Deng, Hao and Yan. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jun Yan
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.