Shame-Based Experiences of Homophobic Bullying and Mental Health: The Mediating Role of Self-Compassionate Actions

Abstract

Homophobic experiences with traumatic characteristics related to shame are more frequent among sexual minority (SM) than heterosexual individuals. Concurrently, SM individuals present higher levels of psychopathology and transdiagnostic processes (e.g., shame) than heterosexual individuals. Self-compassion has been identified as a protective mechanism that counteracts the effects of shame. The current study aimed to analyse which components of self-compassion affect mental health and test the mediating role of self-compassion in the relationship between feelings of shame in traumatic homophobic bullying experiences (THBEs) and psychopathology indicators (depression, anxiety, and social anxiety symptoms). In this study, 190 Portuguese SM individuals (Mage = 28.3, SD = 7.5) completed self-report measures assessing traumatic experiences, self-compassion, and psychopathology. Data were explored with SPSS and AMOS. Regression analyses showed that internal shame felt during THBE and compassionate actions predicted psychopathology outcomes. Mediation analyses revealed that internal shame during a THBE had a significant indirect effect on all psychopathology outcomes through compassionate actions. In other words, internal shame during a THBE was significantly associated with depression, anxiety, and social anxiety, and these relationships were partially mediated by compassionate actions. Our results reinforce the importance of developing compassionate actions towards the self as a possible protective factor for psychopathology among SM individuals.

Gender, Shame, and Social Support in LGBTQI+ Exposed to Discrimination: A Model for Understanding the Impact on Mental Health

“…This is inconsistent with some previous evidence on social support showing that women, both heterosexual and LGBTQI+, are generally more engaged in the community and tend to use support-seeking coping more frequently than men (Pflum et al 2015). Our findings are, however, following previous literature showing that higher social support predicts better mental health for gays and bisexual men (Henry et al 2021;Pereira and Silva 2021) and lower levels (external) shame in LGBTQI+ individuals (Seabra et al 2021). Other studies also indicated that transgender individuals who perceived family support had lower levels of psychological distress than those who perceived their family members as unsympathetic or neutral (James et al 2016).…”

Shame Experiences And Psychopathology: The Mediating Role Of Self-compassion And Social Support In Sexual Minority Individuals

“…Our findings clarify the association between the components of selfcompassion and traumatic shame experiences: compassionate actions seem to be the self-compassion component more negatively associated with shame. In fact, Seabra et al (2022) found a similar result: compassionate actions presented a higher negative association with shame when compared with compassionate engagement. Regarding the association between self-compassion and psychopathology, our results are in line with two meta-analyses in SM individuals: self-compassion showed a medium negative pooled association with psychological distress (Carvalho & Guiomar, 2022;Helminen et al, 2022).…”

“…These young victims seem to resort to shame-avoidance strategies (e.g. minimization of homophobia; McDermott et al, 2008) and shame appears to mediate the relationship between homophobic discrimination and depressive symptoms among SM adults (Seabra et al, 2021b). Shame is a self-conscious and intense emotion involving feelings of inferiority, social unattractiveness, defectiveness, and powerlessness (Tracy et al, 2007) and is associated with general psychopathology (Cândea & Szentágotai, 2013).…”