Citation

Stallman HM, Ohan JL, Chiera B. Aust. Psychol. 2018; 53(1): 52-59.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2018, Australian Psychological Society, Publisher Wiley-Blackwell)

DOI

10.1111/ap.12271

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Self-kindness, which is thought to be part of self-compassion, has the potential to contribute to mental health, as well as serve as a focus for interventions. However, little attention has been given to the potential role of self-kindness specifically, especially in the context of mindful presence and available social support, in buffering distress.

METHOD Structural equation modelling was used to test a theoretically based model of how these factors relate to each other and psychological distress. Participants were 592 Australian university students.

RESULTS Results confirmed our hypotheses, showing that: (a) receiving social support is important to the capacity for self-kindness both directly and indirectly through the ability to "be present," and (b) the relationship between social support and psychological distress is partially mediated by the practices of self-kindness and being present. The model of social support, being present, and self-kindness accounted for half the variance in psychological distress. With the addition of stressors, a regression model explained a total of 62% of the variance.

CONCLUSIONS These findings have implications for understanding the construct of self-kindness and its role in the development of interventions to improve student success.

Language: en

Keywords

college students; mental health; mindfulness; psychological distress; self-kindness; social support