Gender based adolescent self-compassion profiles and the mediating role of nonattachment on psychological well-being

Emerging research has shown that boys and girls may relate to compassionate and uncompassionate components of self-compassion differently and have distinct gender based self-compassion profiles. This study extended upon recent research by investigating gender based adolescent self-compassion profiles and their relationship with psychological well-being and the role of nonattachment in the link between self-compassion and well-being. A large cross-sectional sample of Australian Year 10 high school students (N = 1,944, Mage = 15.65 years, SDage = 0.43; 50% girls) completed measures of self-compassion, nonattachment, and well-being. Latent profile analysis identified distinct self-compassion profiles based on gender. Four profiles labelled ‘Low Self-Relating’, ‘Moderate Self-Relating’, ‘Compassionate’, and ‘Uncompassionate’ emerged for girls. Three profiles emerged for boys labelled ‘Low Self-Relating’, ‘Moderate Self-Relating, and ‘Compassionate’. ‘Low’ and ‘Moderate Self-Relating’ profiles involved low and moderate levels of both compassionate and uncompassionate self-relating. ‘Compassionate’ profiles involved high levels of compassionate and low levels of uncompassionate self-relating, and ‘Uncompassionate’ profiles involved the opposite. For both genders, ‘Compassionate’ profiles were associated with the highest psychological well-being and nonattachment and ‘Uncompassionate’ profiles with the lowest of both. ‘Low’ and ‘Moderate Self-Relating’ profiles showed no difference in psychological well-being or nonattachment. Mediation analysis indicated that nonattachment partially mediated the relationship between self-compassion profile and psychological well-being. These findings support recent research that illustrates adolescents relate to the components of self-compassion differently both between and within genders. It also highlights the crucial role nonattachment plays in the relationship between self-compassion and psychological well-being in adolescents.