@article{ref1,
title="Self-compassion as a mediator of the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and psychotic symptoms in clinical and non-clinical groups",
journal="British journal of clinical psychology",
year="2023",
author="Richardson, Thomas and Sood, Monica and Bayliss, Paul and Newman-Taylor, Katherine",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Previous research has shown a link between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and more severe symptoms of psychosis. There is also evidence that self-compassion is a key mechanism linking adverse childhood experiences and mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, but no research has examined these links in psychosis. <br><br>METHODS: We analysed existing cross-sectional data, including 55 individuals with psychosis and 166 individuals from the general population. Participants completed standardized measures of CSA, self-compassion, paranoia, positive psychotic symptoms and distress linked to psychosis. <br><br>RESULTS: The clinical group had higher scores on CSA and all psychosis measures, but we found no differences in self-compassion between the groups. Higher levels of CSA correlated with lower self-compassion and higher paranoia and positive symptoms in both groups. CSA also correlated with distress linked to psychosis in the non-clinical group. Lower self-compassion mediated the association between higher levels of CSA and more severe paranoia in both groups. In the non-clinical group, lower self-compassion also mediated the association between greater CSA and more positive psychotic symptoms and more severe distress. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study to show that self-compassion mediates the link between CSA and both paranoia and psychotic symptoms in adulthood. Self-compassion may therefore be an important transdiagnostic candidate target in therapy to mitigate the impact of early adversity on paranoia in both clinical and non-clinical groups. Limitations include the small clinical sample and inclusion of a cannabis-using non-clinical sample, though recent cannabis use did not impact self-compassion levels.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0144-6657",
doi="10.1111/bjc.12429",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/bjc.12429"
}