Self-compassion as a mediator of the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and psychotic symptoms in clinical and non-clinical groups.
Br J Clin Psychol
; 62(3): 689-697, 2023 Sep.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-37382313
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Previous research has shown a link between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and more severe symptoms of psychosis. There is also evidence that self-compassion is a key mechanism linking adverse childhood experiences and mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, but no research has examined these links in psychosis.METHODS:
We analysed existing cross-sectional data, including 55 individuals with psychosis and 166 individuals from the general population. Participants completed standardized measures of CSA, self-compassion, paranoia, positive psychotic symptoms and distress linked to psychosis.RESULTS:
The clinical group had higher scores on CSA and all psychosis measures, but we found no differences in self-compassion between the groups. Higher levels of CSA correlated with lower self-compassion and higher paranoia and positive symptoms in both groups. CSA also correlated with distress linked to psychosis in the non-clinical group. Lower self-compassion mediated the association between higher levels of CSA and more severe paranoia in both groups. In the non-clinical group, lower self-compassion also mediated the association between greater CSA and more positive psychotic symptoms and more severe distress.CONCLUSIONS:
This is the first study to show that self-compassion mediates the link between CSA and both paranoia and psychotic symptoms in adulthood. Self-compassion may therefore be an important transdiagnostic candidate target in therapy to mitigate the impact of early adversity on paranoia in both clinical and non-clinical groups. Limitations include the small clinical sample and inclusion of a cannabis-using non-clinical sample, though recent cannabis use did not impact self-compassion levels.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Transtornos Psicóticos
/
Delitos Sexuais
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Br J Clin Psychol
Ano de publicação:
2023
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Reino Unido