The relationship between self-compassion and mental health: A repeated measures investigation

Self-compassion is a significant factor in mental health outcomes across various populations. Research has shown that self-compassion may improve mental health by promoting emotion regulation and resilience, as well as protecting people from depression and anxiety. Despite sufficient research on self-compassion and mental health, most current studies fail to demonstrate causality or track changes over time. Moreover, there is a significant gap in existing research regarding the use of SEM or path models to conceptualize the interplay among self-compassion components. By conceptualizing how these components interact, path models can provide deeper insights into the mechanisms through which self-compassion exerts its effects. This repeated measures study analyzed data from 232 participants who completed valid measures at two time points. The aim was to examine the relationship between self-compassion and mental well-being, as assessed by a validated self-rated measure of mental health (SRMH). Additionally, the study examined how distinct facets of self-compassion contributed uniquely to SRMH over time. Results revealed that the proposed models demonstrated a good fit to the data. This confirmed the differential predictive abilities of separate self-compassion dimensions regarding subsequent SRMH. Specifically, self-kindness emerged as the strongest predictor of positive mental health in subsequent analyses. In addition, mediating variables such as common humanity and isolation were identified as significant pathways through which self-kindness and over-identification influenced SRMH. Moreover, applying repeated measures panel analysis within a cross-lagged framework further substantiated this finding. Overall, the results supported consistent associations between facets of self-compassion and mental well-being across two measurement occasions. Based on these results, future studies should investigate interventions to cultivate self-kindness actions, such as through loving-kindness meditation or compassion-focused exercises. These methods are expected to be impactful in treating and preventing various mental health issues by embracing self-kindness and lessening isolation.