Understanding Self-Compassion in Autistic Adults: Validity Evidence and Its Links to Loneliness and Depression Across...

Autistic adults face higher rates of loneliness and depression than non-autistic adults. Self-compassion may offer a protective buffer against mental health difficulties, but its measurement validity and interaction with loneliness have not been studied in autistic populations. This two-part study examined (1) the dimensional structure of the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) in a global sample of autistic (n = 377) and non-autistic (n = 196) adults, and (2) whether self-compassion moderates the relationship between loneliness and depression in both groups. Confirmatory factor analyses tested multiple models of the SCS, and multigroup regression models tested moderation effects using loneliness and depression scores. The SCS was best represented by two factors-compassionate and uncompassionate self-responding-in both autistic and non-autistic groups. Measurement invariance was supported. In moderation analyses, uncompassionate self-responding significantly moderated the relationship between loneliness and depressive symptoms among non-autistic adults, but not autistic adults. Uncompassionate self-responding was significantly associated with greater depression symptoms in both groups. These findings support using a two-factor structure of the SCS in autistic samples and suggest that reducing uncompassionate self-responding may benefit mental health broadly. However, self-compassion did not buffer the loneliness-depression link for autistic adults, highlighting the need for alternative protective factors tailored to this population.