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Does Self-Compassion Mitigate the Association Between Childhood Maltreatment and Later Emotion Regulation Difficulties? A Preliminary Investigation

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Abstract

Child maltreatment-related outcomes range from no symptom expression to suicide. Increasingly, the diverse presentations have been conceptualized as core system dysregulation, including emotion dysregulation. Self-compassion has been advanced as a self-regulation strategy for countering negative self-directed emotions. This study explored whether individual differences in self-compassion would play a role in loosening the associations among childhood maltreatment severity and later emotion regulation difficulties. The sample consisted of transition-age youth (N = 81) seeking treatment for problem substance use. Self-compassion was negatively associated with emotion regulation difficulties and childhood maltreatment, and predicted emotion dysregulation above and beyond maltreatment history, current severity of psychological distress, and problem substance use. In addition, self-compassion mediated the relationship between childhood maltreatment severity and later emotion dysregulation. These findings provide an impetus for further research into the relevance of self-compassion for maltreatment-related impairment.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) fellowship (L. Vettese, PI) and CIHR Institute of Gender and Health New Emerging Team grant (C. Wekerle, PI; Sponsor # VGH-63212). Dr. Wekerle acknowledges career support from CIHR IGH and the Ontario Women’s Health Council, and a Public Health Agency of Canada Interchange Canada contract. Our deepest gratitude is extended to the participants in this research, the youth addictions treatment program, and others who provided consultation at various parts of this project, including Dr. Tony Toneatto, Dr. Shelley McMain, Dr. Bruce Ballon, Joanne Shenfeld, Lawren Taylor, and Dr. Russell Callaghan, or assisted with screening or data collection for this project, including Jenny Wang, Chani Dedunupitiya, Julia Lecce, Tu Luu, Kristin Chong, and Nigel Kingwell.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children’s Mental Health Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada

    Catherine E. Dyer

  2. Center for Child Development, Hong Kong Baptist University, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong

    Wing Ling Li

  3. McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada

    Christine Wekerle

  4. Advance Health, 1200 Bay Street, Suite 300, Toronto, ON, M5R 2A5, Canada

    Lisa C. Vettese

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  1. Lisa C. Vettese
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  2. Catherine E. Dyer
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  3. Wing Ling Li
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  4. Christine Wekerle
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Correspondence to Lisa C. Vettese.

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Lisa C. Vettese was affiliated to Department of Psychology, Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada at the time the paper was done.

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Vettese, L.C., Dyer, C.E., Li, W.L. et al. Does Self-Compassion Mitigate the Association Between Childhood Maltreatment and Later Emotion Regulation Difficulties? A Preliminary Investigation. Int J Ment Health Addiction 9, 480–491 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-011-9340-7

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