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Article
Self-Criticism and
Depressive Symptoms:
Mediating Role of
Self-Compassion
Huaiyu Zhang
1
, Natalie N. Watson-Singleton
2
,
Sara E. Pollard
3
, Delishia M. Pittman
4
,
Dorian A. Lamis
5
, Nicole L. Fischer
6
,
Bobbi Patterson
5
, and Nadine J. Kaslow
5
Abstract
Self-compassion is gaining recognition as a resilience factor with implications
for positive mental health. This study investigated the role of self-compassion in
alleviating the effect of self-criticism on depressive symptoms. Participants were 147
urban, low-income African Americans with a recent suicide attempt. They were
administered measures of self-criticism, depressive symptoms, and self-compassion.
Results from this cross-sectional investigation showed that self-criticism was
positively associated with depressive symptoms and negatively associated with
self-compassion, and self-compassion was negatively associated with depressive
symptoms. Bootstrapping analysis revealed that self-compassion mediated the self-
criticism–depressive symptoms link, suggesting that self-compassion ameliorates the
negative impact of self-criticism on depressive symptoms. Our findings suggest that
low-income African Americans with recent suicide attempt histories may benefit
from interventions that focus on enhancing self-compassion. These results also high-
light self-compassion as a positive trait with promise to improve people’s quality of
OMEGA—Journal of Death and
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DOI: 10.1177/0030222817729609
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1
School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
2
Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, USA
3
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
4
George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA
5
Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA
6
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA
Corresponding Author:
Nadine J. Kaslow, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory School of Medicine, Grady
Hospital, 80 Jesse Hill Jr. Drive SE, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA.
Email: nkaslow@emory.edu
life and suggest that self-compassion-focused interventions are consistent with a
positive psychology framework.
Keywords
African Americans, suicide, self-compassion, self-criticism, depressive symptoms
Theorists from cognitive developmental, cognitive, and analytic perspectives
have argued that there is a strong link between threats to self-integrity and
self-esteem and the emergence of depression and depressive symptoms
(Beck, 1983; Blatt & Zuroff, 1992). Consistent with these models, research
reveals that depressed individuals tend to be intensely self-critical (Lerman,
Shahar, & Rudich, 2012), and self-criticism serves as a risk factor for the devel-
opment of depression and depressive symptoms (Campos, Besser, & Blatt, 2010;
Ehret, Joormann, & Berking, 2015; Joeng & Turner, 2015). In keeping with the
positive psychology movement (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), it is also
critical to study protective factors that can alleviate the impact of self-critical
personality disposition on the development of depressive symptoms. There is
evidence that high levels of self-esteem and family support can serve such a
function (Abela, Fishman, Cohen, & Young, 2012; Shahar, Blatt, & Zuroff,
2007). One additional factor that has garnered recent support as a stress
buffer and critical resilience factor with implications for positive psychological
functioning and good psychotherapy outcomes is self-compassion (Neff, Rude,
& Kirkpatrick, 2007; Terry, Leary, & Mehta, 2013). Given that individuals with
depression tend to be high in self-blame and self-criticism and low in self-accep-
tance and self-soothing, it has been suggested that self-compassion as an alter-
native to self-judgment may protect against depressive symptoms (Baer, Lykins,
& Peters, 2012; Germer, 2009).
Self-compassion, an emotionally positive attitude and relationship to oneself,
involves treating oneself with warmth and understanding in problematic life
situations, assuming a nonjudgmental stance toward one’s own emotional suf-
fering and personal weaknesses, and conceptualizing one’s own experiences as
being in accord with the larger human experience (Neff, 2003). It is defined as
being impacted by and receptive to one’s own suffering and invested in freeing
oneself from this pain through loving kindness. Self-compassion comprises three
mutually strengthening dimensional qualities: self-kindness (vs. self-judgment),
common humanity (vs. isolation), and mindfulness (vs. overidentification). Self-
kindness refers to the ability to view oneself with caring rather than excessive
self-criticism in the face of difficult life circumstances. It is similar to the human-
istic construct of unconditional positive self-regard but distinct in that the basis
for self-kindness comes from shared humanity without separating the self from
others. Common humanity is a worldview that recognizes the universality of
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suffering and imperfection common to all humans, which enables a nonjudg-
mental perspective in the face of failure or adversity. Mindfulness reflects the
capacity to observe unpleasant feelings and events in the present moment with-
out avoiding or ruminating about them.
Self-criticism is closely linked to all three dimensions of self-compassion,
particularly the self-kindness versus self-judgment dimension (Barnard &
Curry, 2011). The concept of self-judgment, which means being relentlessly judg-
mental and critical of oneself and causing self-inflicted mental suffering beyond
the challenges of the situation, is often used interchangeably with self-criticism
(Germer, 2009). In contrast, self-kindness involves a kind, forgiving, and accept-
ing stance toward oneself, with the understanding that oneself deserves love and
empathy despite weaknesses and failures (Neff, 2003). Thus, being self-kind
means being empathic toward one’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings, including
being compassionately aware of self-judgmental and self-critical thoughts.
In addition to the conceptual and empirical connections between self-criticism
and self-compassion, the fact that interventions that foster self-compassion
result in improved self-kindness, increased tolerance of negative internal
events, and reductions in self-criticism (Gilbert & Procter, 2006; Leary, Tate,
Adams, Allen, & Hancock, 2007; Lucre & Corten, 2013) provides further sup-
port to the association between these two constructs. Thus, self-compassion
appears to be a beneficial alternative to self-criticism.
Given the implications of self-compassion for positive well-being (Barnard &
Curry, 2011; Brienes & Chen, 2012; Kelly, Carter, Zuroff, & Borairi, 2013; Neff,
2012; Terry et al., 2013; Webb & Forman, 2013; Werner et al., 2012; Wren et al.,
2012; Yarnell & Neff, 2013), the relation between self-compassion and depressive
symptoms has been studied extensively. A recent meta-analysis revealed a large
overall effect size (r¼.52) for the relation between self-compassion and depres-
sive symptoms (MacBeth & Gumley, 2013). Never-depressed individuals show
higher levels of self-compassion than both currently and remitted depressed
individuals, even when controlling for depressive symptoms (Ehret et al.,
2015; Krieger, Altenstein, Baettig, Doerig, & Holtfort, 2013). Depressive symp-
toms tend to be inversely related to the positive aspects of self-compassion and
directly related to the negative aspects of self-compassion, with the latter asso-
ciations stronger in magnitude than the former (Barnard & Curry, 2011). In
addition, positive changes in terms of the amelioration of depressive symptoms
are associated with the self-kindness, self-judgment, mindfulness, and isolation
aspects of self-compassion (Brooks, Kay-Lambkin, Bowman, & Childs, 2012;
Van Dam, Sheppard, Forsyth, & Earlywire, 2010). Moreover, self-compassion
relates to less symptom-focused rumination and less cognitive and behavioral
avoidance, both of which mediate the link between low self-compassion and
depressive symptoms (Krieger et al., 2013; Raes, 2010). In intervention studies,
changes in self-compassion show favorable effects on depressive symptoms
(Kuyen et al., 2010; Shahar et al., 2012). Moreover, interventions that promote
Zhang et al. 3
mindfulness, one element of self-compassion, are useful in reducing depressive
symptoms (Ma & Teasdale, 2004).
Increasingly, investigators have examined the bivariate associations among
self-criticism, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms. Only recently have
there been efforts to understand interrelations among these variables. In a
European American sample, self-criticism and self-compassion demonstrated
unique predictive ability with regard to both current and remitted depression
status, beyond that of depressive symptoms and correlates of major depressive
disorder (e.g., perfectionistic belief and cognitions, rumination, and overall
adaptive emotion regulation; Ehret et al., 2015). In other words, increased
levels of self-criticism and decreased levels of self-compassion place people at
increased risk for experiencing major depressive disorder repeatedly or chronic-
ally. In addition, in an online survey study with college students (less than 2% of
whom were African American), self-compassion partially mediated the links
between both internalized and comparative self-criticism and depressive symp-
toms (Joeng & Turner, 2015).
Much of the research relies upon college student and ethnically homogeneous
samples (Barnard & Curry, 2011). With few exceptions (Ehret et al., 2015),
research is lacking for clinical samples, such as suicide attempters who have
high levels of depressive symptoms (Bagge, Lamis, Nadorff, & Osman, 2014;
Carr et al., 2013; Trivedi et al., 2013). While some studies with specific cultural
groups (Ghorbani, Watson, Chen, & Norballa, 2012; Wong & Mak, 2013) have
found that higher levels of self-compassion are linked to lower levels of
psychopathology (e.g., depression), only recently has attention been paid to
self-criticism or self-compassion in African Americans and this is only with
youth (Pace et al., 2013; Reddy et al., 2013). In addition, the data on positive
psychology constructs in African Americans are sparse (Mattis et al., 2016). This
is concerning given African Americans’ disproportionate exposure to discrimin-
ation and other life stresses (Perry, Harp, & Oser, 2013) and the association
between oppression, discrimination, and depression in this population (Carr,
Szymanski, Taha, West, & Kaslow, 2014). Moreover, given that mindfulness
and self-compassion-based approaches have been recommended for African
Americans (Woods-Giscombe
´& Black, 2010), the relevance of this construct
for this population deserves examination.
Guided by a positive psychology framework (Csikszentmihalyi, 2014;
Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Seligman, Linley, & Joseph, 2004) and
the aforementioned research, we investigated the cross-sectional associations
among self-criticism, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms in urban, low-
income African American men and women with a recent suicide attempt.
We proposed the following hypotheses: (a) self-criticism would be positively
associated with depressive symptoms; (b) self-criticism would be negatively asso-
ciated with self-compassion; (c) self-compassion would be negatively associated
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with depressive symptoms; and most importantly, (d) self-compassion would
mediate the self-criticism–depressive symptoms link. Enriching our understand-
ing of the relations among these constructs and the mediating role of self-
compassion in a clinical and understudied population of adults can shed light
on the relevance of self-compassion in this population. The results also may
inform the development and implementation of positive psychology-focused
interventions designed to ameliorate depressive symptoms and enhance subject-
ive and psychological well-being (Bolier et al., 2013) in African Americans, par-
ticularly those at high risk for suicide.
Method
Participants
Participants included 147 (74% of those invited to participate) African
American adults from a public hospital that provides medical and mental
health treatment to low-income individuals. Individuals who self-identified as
African American and who had attempted suicide in the previous year were
recruited from the emergency room, inpatient units, and outpatient clinics.
The demographic information of the participants is shown in Table 1.
Procedure
This study was part of a large, longitudinal treatment outcome study that
involved three assessments with each participant including a preintervention,
postintervention, and follow-up assessment. This larger study has been approved
by the university’s Institutional Review Board, as well as the hospital’s Research
Oversight Committee. Only data collected during the preintervention assessment
were included for the current study. At the outset of the first assessment, the
Mini-Mental State Exam (Folstein, Folstein, McHugh, & Fanjiang, 2001) and
the Nia Psychotic Screen (Zhang et al., 2013) were administered to evaluate
cognitive and psychotic states to ensure competence to continue the assessment.
Individuals who did not meet minimum requirements for the Mini-Mental State
Exam (scores 23) or who endorsed significantly high levels of active psychotic
symptoms were excluded from further participation (n¼5, 3%). Participants
were paid $20 at the conclusion of the complete assessment. At the completion
of each assessment, all participants were provided with a therapy group list that
includes 20 weekly groups. In addition, suicide risk assessments were conducted
if needed based on responses to questionnaires or self-reports of suicidal ideation
during group sessions. Individuals deemed at high risk for suicidal behavior on
these risk assessments were then evaluated more thoroughly through the hos-
pital’s psychiatric emergency service.
Zhang et al. 5
Measures
Demographics. The demographics questionnaire gathered data such as gender,
age, relationship status, number of children, religious affiliation, and known
medical problems.
Self-criticism. The 22-item Levels of Self-Criticism Scale (Thompson & Zuroff,
2004) was used to assess self-criticism. A sample item is as follows: ‘‘Failure is
a very painful experience for me.’’ Participants reported how well each statement
described them, according to a 7-point Likert scale (1 ¼not at all,7¼very well).
Good internal consistency and convergent validity was established for this meas-
ure with constructs of depressive symptoms, self-esteem, psychological distress,
and perfectionism (Thompson & Zuroff, 2004). However, no information could
be located with regard to the reliability and validity of this measure with a
comparable sociodemographic sample. In the current study, Cronbach’s alpha
was .82, suggesting that the measure has good internal consistency reliability in
this sample.
Depressive symptoms. The Beck Depression Inventory – II was used to measure
severity of depressive symptoms (Beck, Steer, & Brown, 1996). Participants rated
21 items on a scale of 0 to 3 based on their level of symptoms for the prior 2
weeks including the current day. A final score, ranging from 0 to 63, was
Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of the Participants.
Demographic characteristics Descriptive statistics (N¼147)
Age (M;SD) 37.7; 11.9
Gender
Male 63 (42.9%)
Female 84 (57.1%)
Relationship status
In relationship 35 (23.8%)
Not in relationship 112 (76.2%)
Have children 98 (66.7%)
Homeless 76 (51.7%)
Unemployed 130 (88.4%)
Individual monthly income
$0–$249 90 (61.2%)
$250–$499 14 (9.5%)
$500–$999 34 (23.1%)
>$999 9 (6.2%)
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calculated according to the sum of all scores. A sample item is as follows:
‘‘Sadness: (0) I do not feel sad,(1)I feel sad much of the time,(2)I am sad all of
the time,(3)I am so sad or unhappy that I can’t stand it.’’ The measure has
extensive psychometric support across all forms of reliability and validity
(Beck et al., 1996; Dozois & Covin, 2004). Studies have supported the use of
the Beck Depression Inventory – II for African American, low-income, and sui-
cidal populations (Carr et al., 2013; Grothe et al., 2005; Joe, Woolley, Brown,
Ghahramanlou-Holloway, & Beck, 2008). In the current study, Cronbach’s alpha
was .92, suggesting good internal consistency reliability with this sample.
Self-compassion. Participants completed the 26-item Self-Compassion Scale (SCS;
Neff, 2003), which measured how often they had thoughts reflective of self-
compassion on a scale ranging from 1 (almost never)to5(almost always). The
six factors of the SCS are self-kindness versus self-judgment, common humanity
versus isolation, and mindfulness versus overidentification. Each factor is mea-
sured independently according to questions such as ‘‘I’m kind to myself when
I’m experiencing suffering’’ and ‘‘I try to see my failings as part of the human
condition.’’ Either a composite score or subscale scores can be used (Hollis-
Walker & Colosimo, 2011), as the single higher order factor of self-compassion
explains the intercorrelations among the six factors. The composite SCS score,
which was used in this study, has good test–retest reliability (Neff, 2003).
Associations between self-compassion and self-esteem, narcissism, rumination,
and depression, among other factors, provided strong evidence for construct
validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity (Neff, Kirkpatrick, &
Rude, 2007). However, this measure also has not been used in comparable sam-
ples. In the current study, Cronbach’s alpha was .87, suggesting good internal
consistency reliability for this sample.
Statistical Analyses
Statistical analyses were conducted using SPSS 20.0. Partial corrections were
applied to test the first, second, and third hypotheses (Leech, Barrett, &
Morgan, 2011). For the fourth hypothesis, path analysis of the mediation
model was conducted to examine the indirect effects between the predictor
(i.e., self-criticism) and outcome variable (i.e., depressive symptoms). A boot-
strap procedure has been recommended for examining the significance levels of
these indirect effects (Shrout & Bolger, 2002). Bootstrap estimates based on
10,000 resamples were created for each indirect pathway using SPSS Macro
(Hayes, 2013). The use of bootstrapping has been recommended for testing
indirect effects because it offers an empirical method of assessing the significance
of statistical estimates and does not require the normality assumption in the
sampling distribution (Preacher & Hayes, 2008). Percent mediation was calcu-
lated for the mediation effect size (Preacher & Kelley, 2011).
Zhang et al. 7
Results
Descriptive Statistics
The demographic characteristics of the participants are presented in Table 1.
The descriptive statistics and intercorrelations of study variables are shown in
Table 2. For the subsequent analyses, covariates were selected based on
correlates that emerged between sociodemographic variables and depressive
symptoms in the current sample, such as homelessness and income:
r(139) ¼.465, p<.001; r(139) ¼.419, p<.001, respectively. Although independ-
ent ttests did not reveal gender differences, gender and additional covariates
were informed by the existing literature (Baker & McNulty, 2011; Gallegos,
Hoerger, Talbot, Moynihan, & Duberstein, 2013; Haggag, Geser, Ostermann,
& Schusterschitz, 2011; Neff & Beretvas, 2013; Neff & Vonk, 2009; Zhang & Li,
2011).
Self-Criticism, Self-Compassion, and Depressive Symptoms
The first hypothesis is related to the association between self-criticism (i.e.,
predictor variable) and depressive symptoms (i.e., outcome variable). The
result from a partial correlation revealed that self-criticism was positively corre-
lated with depressive symptoms, controlling for age, gender, relationship status,
homelessness, unemployment, and monthly income, r(139) ¼.483, p<.001.
Thus, the finding was consistent with the first hypothesis.
The second hypothesis pertained to the relation between self-criticism (i.e.,
predictor variable) and self-compassion (i.e., hypothesized mediator). The result
from a partial correlation showed that self-criticism was negatively associated
with self-compassion, controlling for covariates: r(139) ¼.607, p<.001.
Therefore, the finding supported the second hypothesis.
The third hypothesis focused on the link between self-compassion and
depressive symptoms. A partial correlation showed that self-compassion was
negatively associated with depressive symptoms, r(139) ¼.421, p<.001.
Thus, this hypothesis was supported.
Self-Compassion: Mediator of Self-Criticism–Depressive Symptoms
Link?
The fourth hypothesis pertained to the role of self-compassion as a potential
mediator in the relation between self-criticism and depressive symptoms.
The mediation model was tested to ascertain whether or not the association
between self-criticism and depressive symptoms was mediated by self-compas-
sion (as shown in Figure 1). Bootstrap estimates revealed significant indirect
effect via self-compassion, coefficient of indirect effect ¼.076, 95% confidence
interval [.007, .158], percent mediation ¼.26 (large). The detailed results are
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Table 2. Demographic Statistics and Intercorrelations of Study Variables.
Measure MSDa123456789
1. Depression 30.4 13.9 .92 – .49** .43** .19* .52** .15 .45** .38** .08
2. Self-criticism 101.4 21.2 .82 – – .62** .25** .65** .28** .53** .51** .27**
3. Self-compassion, total 68.4 15.5 .87 – – – .70** .66** .67** .65** .60** .69**
4. Self-compassion, self-kindness 13.76 4.13 .71 – – – – .18* .63** .18* .06 .69**
5. Self-compassion, self-judgment 11.93 4.21 .73 – – – – – .10 .70** .63** .08
6. Self-compassion, common humanity 11.89 3.91 .77 – – – – – – .04 .11 .68**
7. Self-compassion, overidentification 14.24 3.63 .69 – – – – – – – .58** .13
8. Self-compassion, isolation 15.07 3.19 .61 – – – – – – – – .10
9. Self-compassion, mindfulness 11.73 3.73 .75 – – – – – – – – –
*p<.05. **p<.01.
9
c (.349)
b (-.197)
a (-.608)
Covariates:
Age
Gender
Relationship status
Homelessness
Unemployment
Monthly Income
Self-Criticism (X)
Self-Compassion (M)
Depressive Symptoms (Y)
ab (.12)
Figure 1. Path diagram showing the mediation model with standardized coefficients.
10
shown in Table 3. In addition, Figure 1 shows the standardized coefficients of
the associations. Thus, the fourth hypothesis was supported by the findings as
there were significant indirect effects at the .05 level because the 95% confidence
intervals did not include 0. In other words, self-compassion appears to be one
additional factor that accounts for the link between self-criticism and depressive
symptoms, at least among low-income African American men and women with a
recent history of suicidal behavior.
Discussion
A central tenet of the field of positive psychology is that certain psychological
factors are critical for psychological well-being including happiness, hope for the
future, and life satisfaction (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000). The current
study expands our appreciation of the powerful role that self-compassion, a
relatively new concept of interest, plays in impacting psychological well-being
and provides further support for this construct’s relevance to positive
psychology including among African Americans. More specifically, the findings
provide the first empirical support that self-compassion mediates (i.e., explains)
the self-criticism–depressive symptoms link in a clinical sample of low-income
African Americans and as such ameliorates the negative impact of self-criticism
Table 3. Regression Results for Mediation With Self-Criticism as the Independent Variable;
Depressive Symptoms as the Dependent Variable; Self-Compassion as the Mediator; and
Age, Gender, Relationship Status, Homelessness, Unemployment, and Monthly Income as
Covariates.
Regression results Coefficient tp
1. BDI-II regressed on LOSC (c) .297 6.50 <.001
2. SCS regressed on LOSC (a) .017 8.99 <.001
3. BDI-II regressed on SCS controlling for
LOSC (b)
4.54 2.21 .029
4. BDI-II regressed on LOSC controlling
for SCS (c
’
)
.221 3.90 <.001
Indirect effect (ab) Value SE
.076 .037
95% confidence interval of indirect effect
(ab) based on 10,000 bootstrap samples
Lower limit Upper limit
.007 .158
Note. LOSC stands for Levels of Self-Criticism Scale, which measures self-criticism; SCS stands for Self-
Compassion Scale, which measures self-compassion; BDI-II stands for Beck Depression Inventory – II,
which measures depressive symptoms.
Zhang et al. 11
for these high-risk individuals. The results extend our recognition of the pro-
tective role self-compassion serves in both clinical and nonclinical samples
(Ehret et al., 2015; Joeng & Turner, 2015; Wei, Liao, Ku, & Shaffer, 2011)
and support the generalizability of the construct across populations, regardless
of race/ethnicity, social class, or education level. In keeping with a positive
psychology perspective, high levels of self-compassion are associated with hap-
piness, optimism, positive affect, personal initiative and curiosity, life satisfac-
tion, emotional intelligence, relational well-being, and social connectedness
(Brienes & Chen, 2012; Neff, 2003; Neff, Rude, et al., 2007; Yarnell & Neff,
2013), whereas low levels are linked to depressive and anxious symptoms, self-
criticism, rumination, shame, fear of failure, and burnout (Barnard & Curry,
2011; Neff, 2012; Terry et al., 2013).
Consistent with empirical findings from other studies (Campos et al., 2010;
McGrath et al., 2012), the results suggest that the link between self-criticism and
depressive symptoms is true for low-income African Americans. This is signifi-
cant as this is a different population with regard to race/ethnicity and social class
than heretofore has been examined. More fine-grained research is needed to
determine if the associations between self-criticism and depressive symptoms
hold true across ethnic and racial groups, as these links may vary depending
on the degree to which one’s culture is individualistic versus collectivistic
(Yamaguchi & Kim, 2013).
Moreover, a significant negative correlation was found between self-criticism
and self-compassion. This finding is consistent with previous work documenting
the inverse relationship between self-criticism and the tenets of self-compassion
(Barnard & Curry, 2011), an association that appears to be the case across
multiple cross-cultural groups (Yamaguchi, Kim, & Akutsu, 2014). The result
is not surprising, given that one component of self-compassion is self-kindness
(Neff, 2003). Self-criticism and the self-kindness component of self-compassion
may reflect opposite sides of the same continuum, a proposition that requires
further empirical examination.
In addition, the hypothesized inverse association between self-compassion
and depressive symptoms was confirmed indicating that individuals who are
kind toward and understanding of themselves tend to be less depressed. This
finding is consistent with the literature demonstrating negative associations
between self-compassion and psychological symptoms, including depression
(Ehret et al., 2015; Joeng & Turner, 2015; MacBeth & Gumley, 2013; Terry
et al., 2013; Van Dam et al., 2010), across multiple cultures (Yamaguchi et al.,
2014). Self-compassion is correlated with and predictive of levels of depressive
symptoms (Raes, 2011; Terry et al., 2013), predicts these symptoms more
robustly than does mindfulness (Van Dam et al., 2010), and its presence lessens
the level of depressive symptoms (Pauley & McPherson, 2010). However, the
link between self-compassion and depression is complex, as multiple factors
mediate this association such as shame, rumination, worry, avoidance, and
12 OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying 0(0)
self-esteem (Johnson & O’Brien, 2013; Krieger et al., 2013; Raes, 2010). Future
research needs to consider multiple mediators simultaneously.
The results must be considered in light of the study’s limitations. First, the
model did not incorporate enough constructs, and it would be strengthened if it
incorporated more variables central to positive psychology. Mediating or mod-
erating constructs worthy of attention in this regard include self-efficacy and
proactive coping (Greenglass & Fiksenbaum, 2009) and outcomes deserving
consideration include happiness (as opposed to depression), hope, mastery,
quality of life, and life purpose (Bolier et al., 2013). Second, this study did not
incorporate a contextual framework (McNulty & Fincham, 2012). Rather than
viewing self-compassion as positive or negative, future positive psychology
research needs to ascertain the factors that influence under what circumstances,
for whom, and to what extent self-compassion is linked to psychological
well-being; the effects of self-compassion for well-adjusted versus distressed indi-
viduals and people in health versus maladaptive relationships; longitudinal, not
just cross-sectional, implications of self-compassion (McNulty & Fincham,
2012). In addition, understanding the experiences of self-compassion using a
hybrid quantitative and qualitative methodology (i.e., mixed-methods approach)
has the potential to offer a more nuanced appreciation of the role of this con-
struct in this population (Ponterotto, Matthew, & Raughley, 2013). Third, the
sample comprises entirely of African American men and women who are
encountering social and environmental challenges, such as low levels of educa-
tion and high levels of poverty, homelessness, and unemployment. In addition,
suicide attempt rates typically are significantly higher in African American
women when compared with men (Baca-Garcia et al., 2010); however, our
sample was relatively balanced with regard to gender in part due to the fact
that African American women with a suicide attempt and intimate partner vio-
lence in the past year are referred to another study in the hospital, whereas this is
the only study that includes African America male suicide attempters. Given the
demographics of the sample, care should be taken in generalizing these findings
to other African American samples. Replication of the results with more diverse
samples of African American men and women, as well as individuals from other
racial and ethnic and social class groups, would allow for cross-validation of our
findings. Fourth, the current study relied on self-report data, which introduces
the potential for response bias. Fifth, while these findings controlled for con-
founding variables, the differences in the relations among the variables of inter-
est, particularly gender differences, may hold clinical significance. Future studies
with larger and more representative samples will help increase the ability to
detect these differences.
Despite the previously noted limitations, there are a number of clinical impli-
cations worthy of note. Compassion-based interventions may be effective with
African Americans who are depressed. Such interventions have shown promise
in alleviating distress associated with medical and mental health problems,
Zhang et al. 13
including social anxiety, disordered eating, and problematic drinking
(Brooks et al., 2012; Kelly et al., 2013; Webb & Forman, 2013; Werner et al.,
2012; Wren et al., 2012). A pilot emotion-focused intervention study found that
depressive symptoms can be alleviated by boosting one’s kindness, connected-
ness with common humanity, and mindfulness, and reducing one’s vulnerability
to self-criticism (Shahar et al., 2012). A small-scale study from Iran indicated
that compassionate mind training reduced depressive symptoms and had the
potential to reduce self-criticism (Noorbala, Borjali, Ahmadian-Attari, &
Noorbala, 2013). In a related vein, a randomized controlled trial with college
students at risk for depression revealed that engaging in compassion-focused
writing tasks about one’s experience of shame led to lower levels of shame
and depressive symptoms than did working on emotion-focused writing tasks
or not being in a writing-based intervention (Johnson & O’Brien, 2013). Finally,
a recent pilot study showed that participation in a Mindful Self-Compassion
program led to improvements in well-being, as well as levels of self-compassion
and mindfulness (Neff & Germer, 2013).
Taken together, there is mounting evidence that self-compassion may serve as
a vital mechanism of change, underscoring the value of mindfulness- and accep-
tance-based treatments that foster self-compassion (Baer, 2010). Self-compas-
sion-focused approaches with individuals who are depressed are most likely to
be effective if they bring people’s self-critical tendencies to awareness and help
them develop a more self-compassionate stance toward their self-critical atti-
tudes and personal limitations and struggles (Kannan & Levitt, 2013). Several
compassion-based intervention studies have supported the efficacy of compas-
sion training in lessening both self-criticism and depressive symptoms, suggest-
ing self-compassion might have served as a mediator in the treatment process
(Lucre & Corten, 2013; Shahar et al., 2012). Results from these intervention
studies indicate that self-compassion-based interventions may fall within the
rubric of positive psychology interventions (Sin & Lyubomirsky, 2009).
Given that African Americans often have limited access to effective treat-
ments for depression or use such services and prefer culturally relevant and
positive psychology-based interventions, a focus on self-compassion is likely
to be appealing (Alegria et al., 2008; Briscoe, Mowery, Berry, & Austin, 2014;
Gonzalez et al., 2010). Compassion-based interventions and mindfulness or
acceptance-based interventions that emphasize self-compassion when used
with African Americans must take into account cultural factors and be modified
accordingly (Dutton, Bermudez, Matas, Majid, & Myers, 2013; Woods-
Giscombe
´& Black, 2010; Woods-Giscombe
´& Gaylord, 2014). Although no
studies have examined compassion-based interventions for African Americans,
there is evidence to support the acceptability, feasibility, and efficacy of
mindfulness-based interventions with this population (Dutton et al., 2013;
Palta et al., 2012). Therefore, the development, implementation, and evaluation
of a culturally relevant and positive psychology informed intervention designed
14 OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying 0(0)
to bolster self-compassion in African Americans who are depressed and self-
critical is imperative.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,
authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, author-
ship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by grants from the
Emory University Research Council (Group interventions for Suicidal African American
men and women) awarded to the last author (Nadine J. Kaslow).
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Author Biographies
Huaiyu Zhang, PhD, is an assistant clinical professor in the Psychiatry
Department at University of California San Francisco. Her research interests
include mood disorders, suicidal behavior, and trauma recovery.
Natalie N. Watson-Singleton, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department
of Psychology at Spelman College. Her research interests include health dispa-
rities and barriers to psychological help-seeking among African American
women as well as cultural adaptations of psychological interventions, like mind-
fulness meditation training, among racial/ethnic minorities.
Sara E. Pollard, PhD, is an assistant professor of Psychiatry at the University of
Texas Southwestern Medical Center and a bilingual, licensed psychologist for
the Rees-Jones Center for Foster Care Excellence at Children’s Medical Center
in Dallas, TX, a medical home for children in child welfare custody. An affiliate
of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, she provides integrated care,
assessments, and evidence-based intervention for traumatized children and
caregivers.
Delishia M. Pittman, PhD, is an assistant professor of Counseling at The George
Washington University. Her research centers on addressing critical behavioral
health disparities in African Americans across the lifespan, including individual,
environment, and contextual factors that shape alcohol use behavior in the
population. Dr. Pittman is a practicing licensed psychologist in the District of
Columbia specializing in addiction treatment and African American mental
health.
Dorian A. Lamis, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and an assistant pro-
fessor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Emory
University School of Medicine. His research focuses on mood disorders, sub-
stance use, and suicidal behaviors in a variety of populations. He has edited 2
books and published over 120 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on these
topics.
Nicole L. Fischer, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist at the University of
Virginia. She previously held faculty positions at Virginia Commonwealth
Zhang et al. 21
University, Marymount University, and Northern Virginia Community College
Medical Education Campus. She has published several peer-reviewed articles
and book chapters on cross-cultural psychology, race-related stress, and inti-
mate partner violence.
Bobbi Patterson, PhD, is a professor of Pedagogy in the Religion Department at
Emory University. Her current scholarship focuses on questions of place and
space, particularly religion and ecology, focused on the intersections of meaning-
making within life systems. Her interests in lived religion in communities also
draw on theories and practices of Christian and Buddhist contemplative studies.
Nadine J. Kaslow, PhD, ABPP is a professor and Vice Chair, Emory
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Chief Psychologist at
the Grady Health System. The Past President of the American Psychological
Association, she has published extensively on the culturally informed assessment
and treatment of suicidal behavior and family violence.
22 OMEGA—Journal of Death and Dying 0(0)
