Mindfulness and Self-Compassion: Exploring Pathways to Adolescent Emotional Well-Being

Abstract

Adolescents today are confronted with the compounded stressors of life in our high-pressured society and the cognitive, physiological, and emotional changes characteristic of this stage of development. To explore ways to promote well-being in this population, mindfulness, defined as paying attention in the moment in an intentional and purposeful way, was examined in terms of its associations with aspects of emotional well being. It has been reported to have positive effects on emotional well-being in adults, and shows promise for similar results in research with youth. Moreover, the mechanisms through which being mindful may influence positive outcomes have only recently been explored, and have not been investigated with adolescents. Self-compassion, defined by the three components of self-kindness, sensing oneself as part of a common humanity, and maintaining perspective in challenging circumstances, was examined as a potential mediator of the relationship of mindfulness to various outcome measures. Measures assessing mindfulness, self-compassion, and aspects of emotional well-being comprised an online survey that was administered to 67 adolescents in an urban high school. Path analysis was utilized to explore relationships among the variables. An alternate model with self-compassion as the predictor and mindfulness as the mediator was also investigated. Results suggested that both mindfulness and self-compassion functioned as mediators in the pathway to emotional well-being. A theorized model is presented which depicts a reciprocal relationship between mindfulness and self-compassion and describes an iterative process that takes place between these two constructs, promoting emotional well-being. Implications for research and practice include conducting longitudinal studies, which assess constructs at three time points to definitively establish mediation, and developing a self-compassion program tailored for adolescents to facilitate improvements in emotional well-being.

A Prospective Examination of Self-Compassion as a Predictor of Depressive Symptoms in Children and Adolescents

“…However, caution should be taken when interpreting results based on the Mindfulness subscale of this version of the SCS-as well as its posited maladaptive corollary, Over-Identificationparticularly among younger children. With the exception of the Mindfulness subscale, findings from the reliability analyses conducted by Bluth and Blanton (2013) on each of the six subscales of the original SCS-administered to adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18-were broadly similar to those obtained in the current study. For research with child and adolescent samples, a more reliable measure assessing the specific skills entailed by the multifaceted construct of mindfulness may be indicated for researchers specifically interested in this area (see Greco, Baer, & Smith, 2011).…”

“…Responses on the SCS are given on a 5-point scale ranging from Almost Never to Almost Always. Past research using the original SCS with middle-to late-adolescents (Bluth & Blanton, 2013) indicates that the individual subscales demonstrate moderate levels of internal consistency (Cronbach alphas: self-kindness (.64), self-judgment (.83), common humanity (.76), isolation (.78), mindfulness (.72), and over-identification (.74). Alphas of .83 (Bluth & Blanton, 2013) and .90 (Neff & McGehee, 2010) have been obtained for the full 26-item SCS in adolescents.…”

“…Although the original SCS has been used in samples of youth in middle-to late-adolescence (Bluth & Blanton, 2013;Neff & McGehee, 2010), the language used in the measure is not accessible to younger child samples. A revised, child-suitable version of the SCS, adapted by Amy Saltzman (K. Neff, personal communication, August 25, 2014) was used in order to ensure comprehension across all participants.…”

Understanding self-compassion in adolescents: Validation study of the Self-Compassion Scale

“…Overall, these findings point out that self-compassion is associated with positive psychological indicators (e.g., early memories of warmth and Running head: Self-compassion in adolescence 3 safeness, secure attachment, mindfulness, mental health, life satisfaction, emotional well-being; Cunha, Martinho, Xavier, & Espírito-Santo, 2013;Bluth & Blanton, 2014;Marshall, Parker, Ciarrochi, Sahdra, Jackson, & Heaven, 2015;Neff & McGehee, 2010). Inversely association patterns between self-compassion and maladaptive outcomes were found (e.g., negative affect, aggression, trauma-related symptoms, depression, anxiety; Barry, Loflin, & Douvette, 2015;Bluth & Blanton, 2015;Tanaka, Wekerle, Shmuck, & Paglia-Boak, 2011;Vettese, Dyer, Li, & Wekerle, 2011;Zeller, Yuval, Nitzan-Assayag, & Bernstein, 2014).…”

Mindfulness dan Kesejahteraan Psikologis pada Remaja

“…al (2006) mengungkapkan bahwa mindfulness ditemukan berhubungan positf dengan kesejahteraan psikologis. Penelitian dari Bluth & Blanton (2014) juga menemukan bahwa mindfulness dapat membantu remaja untuk mencapai kesejahteraan dan kesehatan emosi serta terhindar dari perilaku kekerasan, bullying, dan bolos sekolah. Meskipun buktibukti dari negara Barat menunjukkan hasil yang meyakinkan mengenai manfaat mindfulness terhadap kondisi psikologis remaja, namun sejauh ini peneliti belum menemukan adanya riset dengan tema serupa di Indonesia.…”