Self-Compassion Scale for Youth:Turkish Adaptation and Exploration of the Relationship with Resilience, Depression, and Well-being
CHILD INDICATORS RESEARCH, vol.15, no.4, pp.1255-1267, 2022 (SSCI, Scopus)
- Publication Type: Article / Article
- Volume: 15 Issue: 4
- Publication Date: 2022
- Doi Number: 10.1007/s12187-022-09915-7
- Journal Name: CHILD INDICATORS RESEARCH
- Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, ASSIA, CAB Abstracts
- Page Numbers: pp.1255-1267
- Keywords: Self-compassion, Depression, Resilience, Well-being, Turkey, Youth, MINDFULNESS, RELIABILITY, PREDICTORS, EFFICACY, ANXIETY, GENDER
- Open Archive Collection: AVESIS Open Access Collection
- Yıldız Technical University Affiliated: Yes
Abstract
Self-compassion refers to being kind, understanding, and accepting toward oneself in times of failure, frustration, or negative feelings. Since self-compassion is related to both physical and psychological well-being, measuring and understanding self-compassion in different populations carries importance for their mental well-being and life satisfaction outcomes. One such group is the youth, who experience unique developmental challenges. For this purpose, a Self-Compassion Scale for Youth (SCS-Y) was developed (Neff et al., 2021) and this paper presents its Turkish adaptation. The Turkish translation of SCS-Y was tested on a sample of Turkish youth (N= 450, 61.8% female, M-a(ge) = 13.09 +/- 1.59, range = 11-15) and was found to have acceptable reliability. The scale showed a similar structure to the original testing on American youth with a bifactor model of a general self-compassion score and six subscale scores, and a two-bifactor model where negative and positive aspects are grouped together. Self-compassion was positively related to resilience and wellbeing, and negatively related to depression. A serial mediation analysis showed selfcompassion to have a direct and positive effect on resilience, and to have an indirect effect on well-being mediated by resilience and depression. Given that the trainable skill of self-compassion is associated with higher resilience, lower depression, and better well-being, the value of this scale and its different adaptations becomes evident, as they enable measuring self-compassion in youth in various populations such as the present Turkish one and guiding the design of future interventions to increase self-compassion, targeted for the specific concerns of the youth.