The influence of self-compassion on emotional well-being among early and older adolescent males and females

Abstract

Self-compassion has been associated with well-being in adult samples, but has rarely been assessed in adolescents. In this study, 90 students ages 11-18 completed an online survey assessing self-compassion, life satisfaction, perceived stress and positive and negative affect. Findings indicated that older female adolescents had lower self-compassion than either older male adolescents or early adolescents of either gender, and self-compassion was associated significantly with all dimensions of emotional well-being with the exception of positive affect. Additionally, phase of adolescence, but not gender, was found to moderate the relationship between self-compassion and dimensions of well-being; for older adolescents, the inverse relationship between self-compassion and negative affect was stronger. Lastly, the influence of the various components of self-compassion was investigated and discussed.