Is intrapersonal emotional competence a personal resource for the quality of life of informal caregivers of cancer patients unlike interpersonal emotional competence?

Introduction: This study assessed the influence of intrapersonal (one's own emotions) and interpersonal (emotions of others) emotional competence (EC) of informal caregivers on their quality of life (QoL) at the beginning of cancer care.

Methods: Participants completed two questionnaires assessing their intrapersonal and interpersonal EC (S-PEC) as well as their QoL (SF-36) at the beginning of treatments. Multivariate ANCOVA regression analyses were then performed to explore the influence of EC on QoL.

Results: The questionnaires were completed by 203 caregivers. As expected, intrapersonal EC was associated with a better QoL in all sub-dimensions (p < 0.01). More surprisingly, interpersonal EC was associated with worse QoL in terms of physical role (- 8.97 [95% CI - 16.74; - 1.19]), emotional role (- 8.37 [95% CI - 16.27; - 0.48]), and general health (- 4.50 [95% CI - 8.08; - 0.92]).

Conclusion: Intrapersonal EC should be improved for better QoL of caregivers of cancer patients. However, the more caregivers are attentive to the emotions of others (e.g., by identifying, understanding, listening and helping to manage emotions), the more their physical and psychological state has an impact on their daily life and their perceived health is impaired.