Citation

Zhang H, Watson-Singleton NN, Pollard SE, Pittman DM, Lamis DA, Fischer NL, Patterson B, Kaslow NJ. Omega (Westport) 2017; ePub(ePub): 30222817729609.

Affiliation

Emory University School of Medicine , Atlanta, GA, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Sage Publications)

DOI

10.1177/0030222817729609

PMID

28886675

Abstract

Self-compassion is gaining recognition as a resilience factor with implications for positive mental health. This study investigated the role of self-compassion in alleviating the effect of self-criticism on depressive symptoms. Participants were 147 urban, low-income African Americans with a recent suicide attempt. They were administered measures of self-criticism, depressive symptoms, and self-compassion.

RESULTS from this cross-sectional investigation showed that self-criticism was positively associated with depressive symptoms and negatively associated with self-compassion, and self-compassion was negatively associated with depressive symptoms. Bootstrapping analysis revealed that self-compassion mediated the self-criticism-depressive symptoms link, suggesting that self-compassion ameliorates the negative impact of self-criticism on depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that low-income African Americans with recent suicide attempt histories may benefit from interventions that focus on enhancing self-compassion. These results also highlight self-compassion as a positive trait with promise to improve people's quality of life and suggest that self-compassion-focused interventions are consistent with a positive psychology framework.

Language: en

Keywords

African Americans; depressive symptoms; self-compassion; self-criticism; suicide