The (non)Protective Role of Self-Compassion in Internalizing Symptoms: Two Empirical Studies in Adolescents Demonstratin
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ORIGINAL PAPER
The (non)Protective Role of Self-Compassion in Internalizing Symptoms: Two Empirical Studies in Adolescents Demonstrating Unwanted Effects of Using the Self-Compassion Scale Total Score Peter Muris 1,2
&
Henry Otgaar 1,3 & Angélica López 4 & Iva Kurtic 1 & Ingrid van de Laar 1
Accepted: 21 September 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Objectives Several scholars have questioned the use of the total Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) score as an appropriate index for measuring self-compassion as a protective psychological trait. Methods We present two new studies to further examine the relationships between SCS or SCS-Short Form scores and symptoms of anxiety and depression in non-clinical samples of adolescents (Ns being 106 and 52). Results Both studies showed that most of the variance in internalizing symptoms was explained by the uncompassionate selfresponding (USR) components of the SCS and that the share of the compassionate self-responding (CSR) was fairly small. Moreover, when controlling for other relevant variables (study 1: neuroticism and extraversion; study 2: self-esteem and lack of self-esteem), the unique contribution of CSR in explaining variance was even completely abolished. Conclusions We argue that the inclusion of the USR components in the SCS (1) hinders the proper investigation of the protective role of self-compassion, (2) inflates the relationship with internalizing symptoms, and (3) obscures the (fair) comparison with other etiological factors of psychopathology. Within a context of internalizing problems, the SCS or SCS-SF can better be viewed as an index of vulnerability than as a measure of protection. Keywords Self-Compassion Scale . Compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding . Internalizing symptoms . Neuroticism . Self-esteem
Internalizing symptoms such as anxiety and depression are prevalent during the developmental stage of adolescence. For example, large-scale epidemiological studies conducted in the general population have shown that a substantial minority of the young people will likely suffer from anxiety and depressive disorders (Ford et al. 2003; Merikangas et al. 2010), with cumulative prevalence rates of 9.9 and 9.5% respectively by the age of 16 years (e.g., Costello et al. 2003).
* Peter Muris [email protected] 1
Department of Clinical Psychological Science, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands
2
Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa
3
Catholic University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
4
Upminded, Utrecht, The Netherlands
Most importantly, the proportion of these internalizing disorders in the total psychiatric morbidity increases during the adolescent years, from an estimated percentage of 25% during middle childhood to a percentage as high as 68% during late adolescence (Costello et al. 2003). This developmental pattern is probably due to the fact that adolescence is a transitional stage characterized by an amalgam of physical, cognitive,
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