The mediating effect of self-compassion and cognitive emotion regulation on the relationship between tolerance and social appearance anxiety in adolescents

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of tolerance on social appearance anxiety and to test the roles of emotion regulation and self-compassion as mediating psychological mechanisms in this relationship. The sample of the study consists of 647 adolescent individuals living in Turkey. The Personal Information Form, Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Tolerance Scale, Self-Compassion Scale - Short Form, and Social Appearance Anxiety Scale were used in the study. Data were collected online using convenience sampling methods. Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the relationships between the variables in the study, while regression-based mediation analysis (Process macro model 81) was used to test the mediation model examined in the study. Upon examining the findings, tolerance was positively correlated with self-compassion (r = .323, p < .001) and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation (r = .200, p < .001); while tolerance was negatively and statistically significantly related to maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation (r = -.250, p < .001) and social appearance anxiety (r = -.229, p < .001). Additionally, a positive correlation was found between self-compassion and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation (r = .358, p < .001); and negative and statistically significant relationships between self-compassion and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation (r = -.576, p < .001) and social appearance anxiety (r = -.530, p < .001). Finally, a statistically significant negative relationship was found between social appearance anxiety and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation (r = -.219, p < .001); and a statistically significant positive relationship was found between social appearance anxiety and maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation (r = .484, p < .001). The mediation analysis, tested with 10,000 bootstrap samples at a 95% confidence interval, revealed that emotion regulation dimensions and self-compassion have a full mediating effect. The findings indicate that the tolerance factor reduces social appearance anxiety not only directly but also indirectly through emotion regulation and self-compassion. In line with these findings, it was concluded that individuals with high tolerance levels need to be supported not only through mindfulness programs but also through emotion regulation and self-compassion levels.