Does self-compassion protect adolescents who are victimized or suffer from academic difficulties from depression?

On the Edge of Psychopathology: Strong Relations Between Reversed Self-compassion and Symptoms of Anxiety and Depression in Young People

Self-compassion is assumed to have a protective role in the etiology of emotional problems in adolescents. This assumption is primarily based on correlational data revealing negative correlations between the total score on the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) and symptom measures of anxiety and depression. Recently, however, the SCS has been criticized because this scale not only consists of items measuring compassionate self-responding (i.e., self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness), but also includes 'reversed' items measuring uncompassionate self-responding (i.e., self-criticism, isolation, and overidentification), which would undermine the validity of the scale as an index of a protective construct. The present article used two methods to demonstrate that compassionate (positive) and uncompassionate (negative) self-responding have differential effects on emotional problems in youths. In the first part, a meta-analysis based on 16 relevant studies demonstrated a modest protective effect of positive self-compassion on anxiety/depression and a large (and significantly stronger) vulnerability effect of negative self-compassion on such emotional symptoms. In the second part, network analyses were conducted on three previously collected data sets and these analyses again showed that negative self-compassion is more closely connected to young people's symptoms of anxiety and depression than positive self-compassion. It is argued that the observed differential effects should not be discarded as a subversive fallacy, but rather offer an opportunity for studying the role of self-compassion in adolescents' emotional psychopathology in a more sophisticated way, taking into account both protection and vulnerability.

Longitudinal relationship between child maltreatment, bullying victimization, depression, and nonsuicidal self-injury among left-behind children in China: 2-year follow-up

BACKGROUND

Left-behind childre (LBC) in China are deeply concerned by society because of their high risk of emotional and behavioral problems. Depression and nonsuicidal self-injury are the most harmful and worrying negative emotional and behavioral problems in LBC. Unfortunately, LBCs are in unfavorable environments for a long time and are prone to negative interpersonal interactions. Child maltreatment and bullying victimization, as the two most typical negative interpersonal interactions in family and school environments, maybe the key risk factors for depression and nonsuicidal self-injury among LBCs. However, we are less known of the longitudinal effects of child maltreatment and bullying victimization on LBC's depression and nonsuicidal self-injury and their underlying mechanisms.

AIMS

This study used a two-year longitudinal design with three-time points to investigate the longitudinal effects of child maltreatment and bullying victimization on depression, nonsuicidal self-injury, and the mediating role of negative thoughts and self-compassion.

MATERIALS & METHODS

A sample of 592 LBC (390 were males, Mage at time 1 = 9.56, SDage = 0.65; 202 were females, Mage at time 1 = 9.43, SDage = 0.63) completed a set of questionnaires at three-time points. This study used SPSS software (version 25.0) and MPLUS software (version 8.3) for all analyses.

RESULTS

(1) Child maltreatment not only affects depression and nonsuicidal self-injury but also affects depression and nonsuicidal self-injury through negative thoughts. Child maltreatment affects depression through self-compassion and does not affect nonsuicidal self-injury. (2) Bullying victimization affects depression and nonsuicidal self-injury through negative thoughts and bullying victimization further affects depression through self-compassion but does not affect nonsuicidal self-injury.

CONCLUSION

This study revealed the effects of negative interpersonal interactions (child maltreatment, bullying victimization) on LBC's adverse emotions and behaviors, and their underlying mechanisms, which helps to provide parents, schools, and psychoeducational workers with a new perspective on intervention.

Gender differences in self-compassion: a latent profile analysis of compassionate and uncompassionate self-relating in a large adolescent sample

Self-compassion, a healthy way of relating to oneself, may promote psychological resilience during adolescence. How adolescents engage with self-compassion, and whether they have distinct self-compassionate or uncompassionate psychological profiles, is unclear. This study investigated potential self-compassion profiles based on responses to the Self-Compassion Scale–Short Form (SCS-SF) and examined their relationship with a range of mental health symptoms and cognitive and emotional tendencies. A large cross-sectional sample of high school students (N = 950; Mage = 13.70 years, SDage = 0.72, range = 12 to 16 years; 434 female and 495 male) completed several online self-report measures including the SCS-SF. Latent profile analysis identified parsimonious self-compassion profiles by gender using the six SCS-SF subscales. Five female profiles included ‘Low Self-Relating’, ‘Uncompassionate’, ‘High Self-Relating’, ‘Moderately Compassionate’ and ‘Highly Compassionate’. Comparatively, two male profiles included ‘Low Self-Relating’ and ‘Moderately Self-Relating’. Low Self-Relating involved low levels of both compassionate and uncompassionate responding, and Moderately Self-Relating involved higher levels of both. Low Self-Relating and Highly Compassionate profiles for females consistently reported lower levels of anxiety and depression symptoms, maladaptive perfectionism, intolerance of uncertainty, repetitive thinking and avoidance-fusion thinking patterns compared to the other female profiles. Low Self-Relating males reported more adaptive outcomes compared to Moderate Self-Relating males. These findings illustrate important adolescent gender differences in compassionate and uncompassionate self-response profiles. Results suggest self-compassion is an important psychological construct with diverse mental health benefits for females, whereas for males a lack of attachment to either response styles are linked with better psychological outcomes.

Maternal Anxiety Symptoms and Chinese Adolescents' Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Protective Role of Adolescents' Self-Compassion

The COVID-19 outbreak triggered dramatic changes to family life. Parents, especially mothers, were found to experience more psychological distress during the pandemic, which may have had an impact on their children's mental health. The primary goal of this study was to examine the potential protective role of adolescents' self-compassion in the relationship between maternal anxiety and adolescents' mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants included 5,720 adolescents (48.9% girls; M age = 11.60, SD age = 1.36) and their mothers from Zhengzhou city, Henan province, in Mainland China. Adolescents reported their level of self-compassion, PTSD symptoms, and negative affect during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mothers reported their own anxiety symptoms and their children's depression and anxiety symptoms. Results indicated that older female adolescents reported higher levels of PTSD symptoms and negative affect and lower levels of self-compassion than their counterparts. Maternal anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic was consistently positively associated with adolescents' psychological maladjustment. These associations were buffered by adolescents' self-compassion. Specifically, adolescents with higher levels of self-compassion were found to be less psychologically affected by their mothers' anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings highlighted the possibility of improving adolescents' mental health through fostering their self-compassion during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Relationship between Direct and Relational Bullying and Emotional Well-being among Adolescents: The role of Self-compassion

The objectives of the present study were, first, to analyze the impact of direct and relational bullying on emotional well-being, and second to study if self-compassion could foster emotional well-being among those who suffer bullying. A sample composed of 433 adolescents (Mage = 13.28; SD = .72) answered two measures of direct and relational bullying based on the Olweus Bully/Victim Questionnaire, the Self-Compassion Scale, and the Positive Affect and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The results showed that being a victim of either relational or direct bullying was associated with lower scores in positive affect and negative affect, while direct bullying was only associated with negative affect. Self-compassion was a strong predictor of emotional well-being, and self-compassion was a partial mediator between being a victim of bullying (either relational or direct) and negative affect. This research adds evidence that self-compassion may be an important component in prevention and intervention programs with victims of bullying.

Meta-analytic review on the differential effects of self-compassion components on well-being and psychological distress: The moderating role of dialecticism on self-compassion

Although self-compassion has been extensively studied in the recent decades, the representation of self-compassion as a unitary measure or the presence of self-warmth (i.e., presence of the positive components: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness) and self-coldness (i.e., presence of the negative components: self-judgment, isolation, and mindfulness) remains controversial. Moreover, the differential effects of the six components of self-compassion on mental well-being and psychological distress have not been systematically investigated. To synthesize the differential effects of the six components of self-compassion and to examine how people in different cultures may associate the positive and negative components of self-compassion differentially, the present meta-analysis synthesized 183 effect sizes across 27 cultures. Results showed that the negative components of self-compassion (rs = 0.44 to 0.45) showed greater effect sizes with psychological distress than the positive counterparts (rs = -0.17 to -0.29) whereas the positive components of SCS (rs = 0.29 to.39) showed greater effect sizes with mental well-being than the negative counterparts (rs = -0.29 to -0.36), with the exception of common humanity and isolation (r = 0.29 and - 0.36). Cultural orientation of dialecticism moderated the association between the positive and the negative components of self-compassion, with dialectical cultures showing lower associations between the two opposing components. Findings have implications on the design and implementation of self-compassion interventions cross-culturally.