Grant: Doctoral Award - Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships

Heart surgeries are being performed on people who are not engaging in enough health behaviours (HBs; physical activity); low engagement increases the risk of poor health outcomes after surgery. People with cardiovascular disease (CVD) may not engage in enough HBs because they face barriers (e.g., fear of exercise). Self-regulation, a form of behavioral control, is important for behavior change because it helps find solutions to barriers. Self-regulation of HBs is hard for people who have had heart surgery because they must self-regulate while dealing with the barriers of living with CVD. These negative emotional experiences can negatively affect an individuals' ability to self-regulate HBs. Self-compassion (SC), extending support to oneself in difficult times, may help people self-regulate their HBs after heart surgery. No research has examined SC in the context of CVD. I will determine whether SC relates to HB engagement and health outcomes after surgery, negatively relates to negative emotions, and if people are open to SC while recovering from heart surgery. This information may help researchers develop interventions to reduce the number of complications that occur after surgery. I plan to take a two-study approach; the first study will follow participants before heart surgery to a year after surgery and the second study will involve interviewing a sub-sample of participants through the recovery period. Participants will be asked to provide information on HB participation, health outcomes, negative emotions, and their ability to manage their health goals. Twenty participants will be asked to participate in the interview process to explore their openness to SC. This will be the first study to look at SC in the context of CVD. This research will examine ways that SC may help people participate in HBs (decrease negative emotions, improve self-regulatory ability). It will also acknowledge whether people are open to SC when having and recovering from heart surgery.