Self-compassion and life satisfaction in Vietnamese adolescents: the mediating role of emotional and behavioral problems

PurposeThe current study aims to examine the relationship between self-compassion and life satisfaction in Vietnamese adolescents and investigate the possibility that emotional and behavioural problems mediate this relationship.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative means of data collection and analysis were used to investigate the relationship between self-compassion and life satisfaction and the underlying mechanism of this relationship. A set of questionnaires was presented to a sample of 828 adolescents (M age = 14.61; SD = 1.08) aged 14-17 years from two secondary schools and two high schools in Thua Thien Hue Province, Vietnam. This helped to determine their self-compassion (self-compassion scale), emotional and behavioural problems (strengths and difficulties questionnaire) and life satisfaction (life satisfaction scale). Instruments reflected satisfactory reliability and validity.FindingsThe results show that self-warmth was positively associated with life satisfaction and that self-coldness was positively associated with emotional and behavioural problems and negatively associated with life satisfaction in Vietnamese adolescents. Emotional and behavioural problems fully mediated the negative relationship between self-coldness and life satisfaction.Practical implicationsIt is implied that intervention programmes should be tailored to both promote self-compassionate behaviours and reduce self-coldness, to increase life satisfaction in adolescents.Originality/valueThe research available on the relationship between self-compassion and life satisfaction in adolescents, especially adolescents from Southeast Asia, is very sparse. More significantly, the underlying mechanisms behind this relationship are not yet fully understood.