Abstract
This study investigated the psychosocial (Illness perception and psychological distress) as predictors of quality of life and the moderating roles of self-compassion among people living with Epilepsy. The study used a cross-sectional survey design to study people living with Epilepsy. A convenience sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 191 participants who responded to structured questionnaires that included measures of Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), Neff's Self-Compassion Scale (Short Form) and WHOQOL-BREF 26. The two hypotheses were tested using multiple regression and macro conditional process model 1 to analyze the data. The findings indicated that illness perception and psychological distress significantly and jointly predicted quality of life among people living with Epilepsy (R²= 0.82, F(3,253)= 4.23 p=0.01), illness perception ( = 0.09, p=0.01) and psychological distress ( = 0.15, p=0.01) showed significant independent contribution to quality of life among people living with Epilepsy. The findings revealed no significant moderating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between illness perception and quality of life among people living with Epilepsy (β = 0.26, P = 0.49), [95% CI: (-0.00, 0.01)]. Furthermore, the findings revealed no significant moderating effect of self-compassion on the relationship between psychological distress and quality of life (β = 0.05, P = 0.83), [95% CI: - 0.04, 0.05)]. It is concluded that illness perception and psychological distress significantly influence quality of life. Self-compassion does not influence the impact of these psychosocial predictors on quality of life among people living with Epilepsy. It is recommended that interventions be customized to consider variations of self-compassion because the effect of self-compassion on quality of life may vary depending on their levels.