Title |
Self-compassion and Psychological Distress in Adolescents—a Meta-analysis
|
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Published in |
Mindfulness, November 2017
|
DOI | 10.1007/s12671-017-0850-7 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Imogen C. Marsh, Stella W. Y. Chan, Angus MacBeth |
Abstract |
Research indicates that self-compassion is relevant to adolescents' psychological well-being, and may inform the development of mental health and well-being interventions for youth. This meta-analysis synthesises the existing literature to estimate the magnitude of effect for the association between self-compassion and psychological distress in adolescents. Our search identified 19 relevant studies of adolescents (10-19 years; N = 7049) for inclusion. A large effect size was found for an inverse relationship between self-compassion and psychological distress indexed by anxiety, depression, and stress (r = - 0.55; 95% CI - 0.61 to - 0.47). The identified studies were highly heterogeneous, however sensitivity analyses indicated that correction for publication bias did not significantly alter the pattern of results. These findings replicate those in adult samples, suggesting that lack of self-compassion may play a significant role in causing and/or maintaining emotional difficulties in adolescents. We conclude that self-compassion may be an important factor to target in psychological distress and well-being interventions for youth. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 14 | 52% |
United States | 2 | 7% |
Japan | 1 | 4% |
Brazil | 1 | 4% |
Ireland | 1 | 4% |
Canada | 1 | 4% |
Australia | 1 | 4% |
Unknown | 6 | 22% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 12 | 44% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 9 | 33% |
Scientists | 4 | 15% |
Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 4% |
Unknown | 1 | 4% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 480 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 70 | 15% |
Student > Bachelor | 53 | 11% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 48 | 10% |
Researcher | 31 | 6% |
Student > Doctoral Student | 30 | 6% |
Other | 47 | 10% |
Unknown | 201 | 42% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Psychology | 177 | 37% |
Social Sciences | 20 | 4% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 19 | 4% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 15 | 3% |
Neuroscience | 5 | 1% |
Other | 26 | 5% |
Unknown | 218 | 45% |