42-4 Mindfulness, Self-healing and Psychological Adaptation-The Mediating Effects of Self-compassion and Self-disparagement

This research aims to investigate the mediating effects of self-compassion and self-disparagement among mindfulness, self-healing and psychological adaptation. The research used a purposive sampling survey method. Participants were 345 students enrolled at two universities located in Midwest Taiwan. The results of the study showed that female participants scored significantly lower on the self-compassion scale and the two subscales of self-healing (mindfulness and calmness) than did those male participants, but female participants also reported higher level of depression than did male participants. Partial analyses revealed that self-compassion and self-disparagement partially correlated with psychological adaptation more than did with mindfulness. The present researchers developed a MCA model and the results showed that the model appropriately explained how mindfulness via self-healing, self-compassion and self-disparagement predicted subjective well-being and psychological adaptation. Self-compassion and self-disparagement were full mediating factors between mindfulness and self-healing as well as psychological adaptation. Self-healing partially mediated between mindfulness and self-compassion as well as self-disparagement. In addition, self-compassion and self-disparagement played differentiated roles in predicting psychological adaption. While self-compassion strongly predicted subjective well-being, self-disparagement strongly predicted depression and common mental disorders. Enhanced self-healing resulted from bare attention (mindfulness) improved self-compassion, which was the source of subjective well-being. As Chinese culture emphasizes self-harshness Chinese people are pronged to engage in self-disparagement, which may lead to depression and common mental disorders. With mindfulness, self-disparagement tendency in Chinese individuals might be alleviated. Discussion and recommendations are presented.

Keywords
depression ; mindfulness ; self-compassion ; self-disparagement ; self-healing

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