The Relationship Between Emotional Abuse and Flourishing: The Mediating Role of Shame and Self-Compassion

Abstract This study aims to examine the mediating role of shame and self-compassion in the relationship between emotional abuse and flourishing. The study group consisted of 458 university students enrolled in various undergraduate programs at XXXX University during the 2024–2025 academic year. Serial multiple mediation analysis within Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) revealed that emotional abuse significantly predicted shame positively and self-compassion negatively. Furthermore, shame was found to negatively predict self-compassion. The mediation analysis results showed that the direct relationship between emotional abuse and flourishing attenuated but remained significant with the inclusion of shame and self-compassion in the model. These findings suggest that shame and self-compassion function as partial mediators within the link between emotional abuse and flourishing, with self-compassion being positively linked to flourishing and negatively to shame.