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. 2023 Jan;79(1):168-185.
doi: 10.1002/jclp.23375. Epub 2022 May 12.

Self-compassion and depression in Chinese undergraduates with left-behind experience: Mediation by emotion regulation and resilience

Si Yu  1 , Chunyang Zhang  2 , Wei Xu  1   3
Affiliations

Self-compassion and depression in Chinese undergraduates with left-behind experience: Mediation by emotion regulation and resilience

Si Yu et al. J Clin Psychol. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Objectives: The protective role of self-compassion in emerging adult depression has garnered empirical support. It makes more sense to understand the psychological processes underlying this relationship. Based on the stress appraisal patterns, the present study examined the mediating roles of emotion regulation (ER) and resilience in the link between self-compassion and depression among college students with left-behind experience (LBE).

Methods: A total of 391 LBE college students (Mage = 18.43 years; SD = 0.79 years) in Chongqing reported their demographic information and self-compassion (the Self-Compassion Scale) level at baseline (T1) and reported their levels of ER (the Emotion Regulation Scale), resilience (the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale), and depression (the Depression-Anxiety-Stress Scale) 3 months later (T2).

Results: The results revealed that (a) both ER (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression) and resilience separately mediated the association between self-compassion and depression; (b) cognitive reappraisal and resilience sequentially mediated this association.

Conclusions: These findings reveal the underlying mechanisms of the associations between self-compassion and depression among LBE college students and have implications for interventions aimed at mitigating their depression.

Keywords: depression; emotion regulation; left-behind experience; resilience; self-compassion.

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