Mindful Self-Compassion: How it Can Enhance Resilience

Does emotion regulation mediate the relationship between self-compassion and subjective well-being? A cross-sectional study of adults living in the United States

Subjective well-being influences mental and physical health. Fortunately, interventions exist to improve people's subjective well-being. Emotion regulation and self-compassion are two transdiagnostic factors that impact mental health and have been separately shown to be associated with subjective well-being. However, their combined relationship with subjective well-being has not yet been examined. To address this gap, the current novel study aimed to determine if there is a combined relationship between self-compassion, emotion regulation, and dimensions of subjective well-being cross-sectionally in adults living in the United States. Participants (n = 559; 50% female; Mage = 57.70 years) completed an online survey via Prime Panels from CloudResearch, capturing their responses on the interested constructs. Analyses showed that emotion regulation significantly mediated the relationships between self-compassion and various subjective well-being dimensions, specifically, positive affect (d = 0.32), negative affect (d = 1.17), and eudemonic well-being (d = 0.79). Our findings have both clinical and research implications.

Self-compassion improves emotion regulation and mental health outcomes: A pilot study of an online self-compassion program for autistic adults

LAY ABSTRACT

Self-compassion is when we are aware of our feelings and thoughts, are friendly toward ourselves, and realize everyone feels pain and makes mistakes. Self-compassion is associated with having better mental health and well-being in autistic and non-autistic people. But we do not know if autistic people's self-compassion can be improved through psychoeducation and self-compassion practices. We co-produced an online self-guided self-compassion program based on evidence-based self-compassion practices for autistic adults called the Self-compassion Program for Autistic Adults. This program included live-experiences videos of autistic adults reflecting on their self-compassion and self-critical experiences. This study piloted the program with 39 autistic adults. We wanted to see if these autistic adults' self-compassion, emotion regulation, mental health, and psychological well-being improved after completing this program. We found that the autistic participants' self-compassion, emotion regulation, mental health, and psychological well-being improved significantly after completing the program over 5 weeks. We also found that just over half of the participants reported experiencing negative reactions associated with self-compassion practices. We suggested some clinical implications, including a recommendation for emotion regulation interventions to incorporate self-compassion to help promote access to the affiliative system. In addition, autistic adults who are psychologically vulnerable may need to work with mental health professionals while developing self-compassion to help manage the possible negative reactions associated with some self-compassion practices.

The Inter-Relationship of Emotion Regulation, Self-Compassion, and Mental Health in Autistic Adults

Background

Emotion regulation is one of the key factors that influence mental health outcomes in autistic and nonautistic populations. Recent research has also identified self-compassion as a negative correlate of depression and positive correlate of psychological well-being in autistic adults. Empirical evidence from the general population supports the notion that being kind and compassionate toward oneself during stressful and difficult moments can help with one's ability to regulate negative emotions, which then has flow-on effects on mental health outcomes. However, the inter-relationship between self-compassion, emotion regulation, and mental health has not been examined in autistic samples. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine if emotion regulation mediates the relationship between self-compassion and anxiety or depression in a sample of autistic adults.

Methods

Participants were 153 adults (meanage = 35.70, standard deviationage = 12.62) who had either self-reported a clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or self-identified as autistic. They completed an online survey capturing self-compassion, emotion regulation, anxiety, and depression. We hypothesized that emotion regulation would mediate the relationship between self-compassion and anxiety or depression, and self-compassion would not mediate the relationship between emotion regulation and anxiety or depression.

Results

As predicted, only emotion regulation mediated the relationship between self-compassion and mental health outcomes. Self-compassion did not mediate the relationship between emotion regulation and mental health outcomes.

Conclusion

This study provides preliminary evidence for the role that self-compassion plays in improving emotion regulation and mental health in autistic adults. If this mechanism of emotion regulation mediating the relationship between self-compassion and mental health is consistently found in future studies, then it would be helpful for future research to examine the clinical benefits of including a self-compassion component in emotion regulation interventions to improve mental health outcomes of autistic adults.

"Self-compassion changed my life": The self-compassion experiences of autistic and non-autistic adults and its relationship with mental health and psychological wellbeing

Self-compassion is a gentle way of relating to oneself, linked to a host of mental health benefits in non-autistic people. Although many autistic individuals report high anxiety and depression symptoms, no research to-date has examined the self-compassion experiences of autistic individuals and determined if self-compassion is associated with psychopathology. Therefore, the purpose of the current study was to address this research gap. The participants (153 autistic and 93 non-autistic adults) completed on online survey and 11 autistic participants were also interviewed. Autistic participants reported significantly lower self-compassion than non-autistic adults, and in both groups, those with higher self-compassion reported higher psychological wellbeing and lower depression symptoms. Demographic predictors of self-compassion were identified. These findings have both clinical and research implications.

The Wither or Thrive Model of Resilience: an Integrative Framework of Dynamic Vulnerability and Resilience in the Face of Repeated Stressors During the COVID-19 Pandemic

During the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, empirical efforts in the psychological sciences have been unequivocally focused on understanding the psychosocial impact on resilience and vulnerability. While current empirical work is guided by different existing theoretical models of resilience and vulnerability, the emerging datasets have also pointed to a necessity for an update of these models. Due to the unique features and developments specific to the current pandemic such as the occurrence of repeated collective stressors of varying durations, in the current position paper, we introduce the Wither or Thrive model of Resilience (With:Resilience). It integrates key aspects of prevailing psychological resilience frameworks within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, and extends them by (1) moving away from single scale approaches towards a higher-order latent expression of resilience and vulnerability incorporating also non-clinical mental health markers, (2) proposing different trajectories of resilience-vulnerability emerging across repeated stressors over long periods of time, and (3) by incorporating multiple influencing factors including aspects of the socio-economic concept of social cohesion as well as separate mediating processing mechanisms. We propose that With:Resilience will enable a more nuanced approach and appropriate analytical investigation of the vast incoming data on mental health and resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we suggest some concrete methodological approaches. This framework will assist in the development of actionable public health guidelines for society in the present and future pandemic contexts as well as aid policy making and the interventional sciences aimed at protecting the most vulnerable amongst us.

Psychometric Validation of the Persian Self-Compassion Scale Youth Version

Objectives

Empirical research investigating self-compassion is a rapidly developing field, and it is potentially crucial in early adolescence. The primary aim of the present study was to psychometrically evaluate the Persian translation of the Self-Compassion Scale Youth version (SCS-Y) and evaluate its factor structure among young adolescents. The second aim was to explore the buffering effect of self-compassion against the negative effect of difficulties in emotion regulation on COVID-19-related anxiety.

Methods

A sample of young students (n = 532; mean age 13.57 years) completed an online survey, which included the SCS-Y, Patient Health Questionnaire, Difficulties In Emotion Regulation Scale, Coronavirus Anxiety Scale, Youth Life Orientation Test, Brief Resilience Scale, and Brief 10-Item Big Five Inventory. First-order (six-factor) confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and bi-factor exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) analysis were used to evaluate the factor structure of the SCS-Y.

Results

Results showed that the SCS-Y had very good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha coefficient: 0.88; McDonald's omega coefficient: 0.90), composite reliability (0.87), and adequate test-retest reliability after 4 weeks (0.60). The first-order (six-factor) CFA and bi-factor ESEM analysis demonstrated the SCS-Y had excellent dimensionality. Further analysis found negative associations between self-compassion with both depression and neuroticism, and positive associations between self-compassion with both resilience and optimism. Moreover, self-compassion moderated the association between emotion dysregulation and anxiety generated by the COVID-19. Overall, the findings indicated that the SCS-Y had acceptable criterion-related validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity.

Conclusions

The findings provide evidence that the SCS-Y is a reliable and valid instrument for assessing the six factors of self-compassion among younger adolescents. Based on the study's findings, self-compassion appears to be a protective factor against mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic for younger adolescents.

Cultivating Self-Compassion to Improve Mental Health in Autistic Adults

Many autistic adults experience poor mental health. Research has consistently shown that cultivating self-compassion is a promising approach to strengthening resilience in nonautistic adults. Self-compassion is a trainable skill that is associated with several mental health benefits, such as higher levels of happiness and well-being as well as lower symptoms of depression and anxiety. However, no studies to date have explored self-compassion in autistic individuals. We suggest that self-compassion may be a relevant target in mental health interventions for autistic adults without severe or profound intellectual disability. Self-compassion may improve mental health in autistic adults through directly modifying emotions (as an emotion regulation strategy) or its interactions with emotion regulation processes. Existing approaches to cultivating self-compassion include identifying and practicing self-compassionate behaviors, using self-compassionate thought records, and practicing self-compassion meditations. Before self-compassion approaches are implemented by autistic adults, it will be necessary to evaluate their role and effectiveness in mental health through carefully designed studies. We suggest that researchers should first study the relationship between self-compassion and mental health outcomes in autistic adults. Once researchers have established the connection, we can then begin to study self-compassion-based interventions for autistic adults. Relevant clinical considerations include identifying the autistic groups that self-compassion practices are suitable for, determining how autistic adults with and without mental health conditions can effectively practice self-compassion (on their own and with the support of clinicians), and evaluating existing self-compassion tools or designing new tools. It is also relevant for future research to identify the enablers and barriers to using self-compassion in autistic adults.

Lay summary

What is self-compassion?: Self-compassion is when we: are friendly toward ourselves (kindness)are aware of our feelings and thoughts (mindful awareness)realize that everyone feels pain and makes mistakes (common humanity)What is the purpose of this article?: We think that practicing self-compassion is important for autistic adults. No research has studied self-compassion in autistic individuals. We provide examples of how to improve self-compassion. We make recommendations for future research on self-compassion for autistic adults.What perspectives do the authors bring to this subject?: We bring together different and unique perspectives in this article. One author is a researcher whose research has focused on emotion regulation and mental health in autistic youth and adults. The other author is a self-compassion researcher who is also a private practice clinical psychologist. We have practiced self-compassion and personally experienced the benefits of developing our self-compassion skills. We think that cultivating self-compassion has helped to improve our mental health and enriched our lives.Why is self-compassion important?: Self-compassion is associated with a lot of positive aspects of life in nonautistic individuals. These positive aspects include greater happiness and well-being, and lower levels of depression and anxiety symptoms.How is self-compassion relevant to autistic adults?: We know that as a group, autistic adults have poorer mental health when compared with nonautistic adults. That is, autistic adults experience higher rates of anxiety and depression. Research shows that practicing self-compassion in nonautistic people can improve their mental health. We think that cultivating self-compassion can also be helpful to autistic adults.What do the authors recommend?: We suggest that cultivating self-compassion may improve the mental health of autistic adults. There are several ways to improve self-compassion. Self-compassion can be improved by identifying and practicing self-compassionate behaviors. For example, we can take a walk outside. Another way to improve self-compassion is to record our thoughts. This can be performed by keeping a log of self-critical thoughts. We can also practice self-compassion by meditating. It is too early to tell how self-compassion should be practiced by autistic adults. Research is needed to observe if self-compassion is helpful to autistic adults. We made a series of recommendations for researchers and clinicians. Researchers should first check if there is a relationship between self-compassion and mental health in autistic adults. If more self-compassion is associated with better mental health, then researchers and clinicians can try and find out how we can improve autistic people's self-compassion.How will these recommendations help autistic adults now or in the future?: We hope that our recommendations will start a conversation on the relevance of self-compassion for autistic adults and lead to the development of self-compassion-related research programs that involve autistic adults. The ultimate goal is to improve the mental health and psychological well-being of autistic adults in the future.

Mindfulness, Compassion, and Self-Compassion as Moderator of Environmental Support on Competency in Mental Health Nursing

This research explored the established relationship between environmental support and competency for Mental Health Nurses, intending to investigate whether the tendency to display higher levels of mindfulness, compassion, and self-compassion might buffer the effect of a poor environment on competency. One questionnaire was comprised of five pre-developed questionnaires, which included all items examining environmental support, competency, mindfulness, compassion, and self-compassion. Mental Health Nurses (n = 103) were recruited from online forums and social media group pages in the UK. The result showed environmental support related positively to competency. Furthermore, the positive relationship of competency with environmental support was moderated when controlling for compassion but did not with mindfulness and self-compassion, although subscales showed some further interactions. When poor environmental support influences the competency of mental health professionals, compassion and mindfulness-based interactions may have the potential to uphold competency.

Considerations for the incorporation of mindfulness into pharmacy education

INTRODUCTION

A range of approaches are needed to bolster the mental health and well-being of pharmacists and student pharmacists.

COMMENTARY

In recent years, medical and nursing educators have been training students to use mindfulness-oriented meditation (MOM) techniques such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) for mental health, wellness, and greater attention and presence. MOM training should be considered for incorporation into pharmacy education. Mindfulness can be included in the pharmacy curriculum in a variety of ways. These include introducing students to the topic didactically, encouraging and facilitating students to take an MBSR course, workshop, or online self-study, and integrating mindfulness through mindful moments during critical educational activities like product verification and communication assessments.

IMPLICATIONS

Mindfulness may be a valuable skill for student pharmacists, thus we encourage schools to expose students to the concepts of mindfulness and MOM techniques like MBSR. Additionally, more robust and rigorous research is needed to better understand the effects of MOM in different settings and contexts.