Effects of self-compassion on depressive symptoms and suicide risk in college students: a longitudinal study

Self-compassion refers to being supportive of oneself when experiencing suffering and comprises two components: positive and negative. Positive and negative self-compassion are characterized by self-kindness, humanity and mindfulness; and by self-judgment, isolation, and over-identification with one's suffering, respectively. Higher positive and negative self-compassion has been reported to reduce or promote psychopathology, respectively. Even though studies have provided a rationale for the relationships between self-compassion and suicide risk and between self-compassion and depressive symptoms, no study has examined the associations between self-compassion, depressive symptoms, and suicide risk. Therefore, this study examined the effects of positive and negative self-compassion on depressive symptoms and suicide risk. The participants were 371 college students in Japan; they completed questionnaires on self-compassion, and then completed questionnaires on depressive symptoms and suicide risk 6 months later. Structural equation modeling revealed that higher positive and negative self-compassion were associated with lower or higher suicide risk via lower or higher depressive symptoms, respectively. The findings suggest that both positive and negative self-compassion play important roles in suicide risk. We discussed that the impact of ethnicity on the associations with between self-compassion and depressive symptoms and between self-compassion and suicide risk. Both positive and negative self-compassion were associated with suicide risk via depressive symptoms. Our findings may contribute to interventions targeted to decrease depressive symptoms and suicide risk.