Citation

McLean CL, Fiorillo D, Follette VM. Violence Vict. 2018; 33(3): 472-485.

Affiliation

Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida vfollette@fit.edu.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Springer Publishing)

DOI

10.1891/0886-6708.v33.i3.472

PMID

30567859

Abstract

Interpersonal violence is pervasive and is related to numerous negative psychological outcomes. This study examines self-compassion and psychological flexibility as potential protective factors for the range of diverse problems associated with interpersonal trauma. A community sample of 27 women (mean age = 37.74, SD = 16.16) participated in a larger pilot intervention study for psychological distress related to interpersonal violence. In this treatment-seeking sample, self-compassion was positively associated with psychological flexibility and negatively linked to higher levels of trauma-related distress, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms as well as problems related to the self and relations with others. The results suggest that self-compassion and psychological flexibility may function as protective factors in the development of problems in survivors of interpersonal violence.

© 2018 Springer Publishing Company, LLC.

Language: en

Keywords

interpersonal violence; psychological flexibility; self-compassion; trauma