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Running head: Self-compassion in adolescence
1
Marina Cunha, Ana Xavier, & Paula Castilho (2016). Understanding self-compassion in
adolescents: Validation study of the Self-Compassion Scale. Personality and Individual
Differences, 93, 56–62. doi:10.1016/j.paid.2015.09.023
Understanding self-compassion in adolescents: Validation study of the Self-
Compassion Scale
Marina Cunha, Ana Xavier, & Paula Castilho
Abstract
Self-compassion is an adaptive self-attitude when considering personal
inadequacies or difficult life situations and seems to be crucial to adolescent’s
experience. However, self-compassion remains less investigated in adolescence. This
paper aims to analyse the psychometric properties of Self-Compassion Scale (SCS;
Neff, 2003) and test its six-factor structure through a Confirmatory Factor Analysis in a
representative sample of adolescents. The sample consists of 3165 adolescents, aged
between 12 and 19 years old (Mage = 15.49) from Portuguese schools. Results confirm
the six-factor and second-order structures of the SCS and the measurement invariance
across gender. The SCS and subscales also revealed good internal reliability and
convergent validity with measures of positive emotional memories, depressive, anxiety
and stress symptoms. Overall, our findings suggest that the SCS is a valid and reliable
measure to assess self-compassion among adolescents.
Keywords: Self-compassion; SCS; Adolescence; Confirmatory factor analysis;
Measurement invariance
Running head: Self-compassion in adolescence
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1. Introduction
In the last years, there has been an increasing interest and a growing body of
research about the nature and implications of self-compassion in various fields from
health and education to business and sociological domains. Self-compassion is rooted in
Asian philosophy and according to Neff (2003a) entails three main interacting
components: Self-Kindness (i.e., the tendency to be kind and understanding toward
oneself in instances of pain or failure rather than being harshly critical); Common
Humanity (i.e., the ability to perceive one’s experiences as part of the larger humanity
experience rather than seeing them as separating and isolating); and Mindfulness (i.e.,
being aware of present moment experience in a balanced manner rather than over-
identifying with one’s negative emotions).
In face of negative external events (e.g., experiences of failure, shame, bullying),
painful or distressing feelings are not avoided, supressed or perpetuated by self-critical
evaluations but instead are seen as part of a shared human experience through an
attitude of acceptance, kindness, compassionate and non-judgmental, allowing proactive
and effective behaviours (Neff, 2003a). Indeed, several studies have shown that self-
compassion is negatively associated with anxiety, stress, depression, rumination
(Castilho, Pinto-Gouveia, & Duarte, 2015; Neff, Rude & Kirkpatrick, 2007; Raes,
2010), shame (Gilbert & Procter, 2006), academic failure (Neff, Hseih, & Dejitthirat,
2005). On the contrary, self-compassion is strongly and positively linked to
psychological well-being, happiness, life satisfaction, optimism, emotional intelligence,
interpersonal connectedness (Neff et al., 2007).
Although research on self-compassion in adolescent samples is scarce, some
studies have recently emerged. Overall, these findings point out that self-compassion is
associated with positive psychological indicators (e.g., early memories of warmth and
Running head: Self-compassion in adolescence
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safeness, secure attachment, mindfulness, mental health, life satisfaction, emotional
well-being; Cunha, Martinho, Xavier, & Espírito-Santo, 2013; Bluth & Blanton, 2014;
Marshall, Parker, Ciarrochi, Sahdra, Jackson, & Heaven, 2015; Neff & McGehee,
2010). Inversely association patterns between self-compassion and maladaptive
outcomes were found (e.g., negative affect, aggression, trauma-related symptoms,
depression, anxiety; Barry, Loflin, & Douvette, 2015; Bluth & Blanton, 2015; Tanaka,
Wekerle, Shmuck, & Paglia-Boak, 2011; Vettese, Dyer, Li, & Wekerle, 2011; Zeller,
Yuval, Nitzan-Assayag, & Bernstein, 2014).
The major developmental tasks during the transition from childhood to
adulthood, including identity formation, playing different social roles, autonomy from
parents, necessity of belonging and acceptance of peers group, make adolescence a time
of heightened vulnerability to suffering (Steinberg & Morris, 2001). Thus, self-
compassion could be beneficial for this age group by providing a way for adolescents to
perceive their failures or mistakes proportionally and in a balanced perspective, to
experience supportive and warmth feelings towards themselves without engaging in the
problematic process of self-criticism, evaluation and social unfavourable comparisons
(Neff & McGehee, 2010). Therefore, the cultivation of self-compassion may function as
a protective strategy and may be a preventive and intervention target for adolescents in
order to foster their resilience and well-being in various contexts of their lives (e.g.,
family, school, friendships and community).
The majority of research conducted on self-compassion has widely used the
Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003a). Neff (2003a) conducted several
confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) and results determined that a single higher-order
factor of self-compassion could explain the inter-correlations between the six subscales
(NNFI=.90; CFI=.91), indicating that this scale may be analysed through its six
Running head: Self-compassion in adolescence
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subscales separately or as an overall score. Neff (2003a) also found good internal
reliability for the total score and for their subscales and good convergent and divergent
validities. The SCS has been adapted and validated in other countries. The Portuguese
version in non-clinical and clinical adult samples (Castilho et al., 2015) confirmed the
six-factor and higher-order structures of the SCS and found good psychometric
properties, high internal consistency for the total score (α = .94 for non-clinical and α =
.92 for clinical samples) and subscales (ranging between .70 and .88).
An exploratory study was conducted to adapt the Portuguese version of the SCS
for adults to adolescents. This adaptation took into account the cultural and linguistic
issues, but did not alter the items’ content of the original version, by maintaining the
semantic equivalence across languages. For instance, in some items an example was
added in order to make them more comprehensible for adolescents (e.g., item 5 “I try to
be loving towards myself when I’m feeling emotional pain (e.g., do or say something
kind towards myself)”; item 6 “When I fail at something important to me I become
consumed by feelings of inadequacy (e.g., feelings of failure)”; item 22 “When I'm
feeling down I try to approach my feelings with curiosity and openness (e.g., without
judgements or trying to avoid them)”. Overall, these results showed promising
psychometric properties for the SCS, despite its construct validity was not analysed
(Cunha, Xavier, & Vitória, 2013). Therefore, this study aims to examine the factorial
structure of the SCS in a large sample of adolescents from community and test the
measurement invariance across gender. Finally, convergent validity is also explored
with other related measures.
2. Method
2.1. Participants
Running head: Self-compassion in adolescence
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The sample consists of 3165 adolescents, 1461 males (46.2%) and 1704 females
(53.8%), with a mean age of 15.49 (SD = 1.59) ranging between 12 and 19 years old.
This sample is from 7th to 12th grade (M = 9.70, SD = 1.43). No gender differences were
found for age, t(3007,314) = 0.572, p = .567, and years of education, t(3053,235) = -1.648, p =
.099.
2.2. Measures
Self-Compassion Scale (SCS; Neff, 2003a; Portuguese version for adolescents:
Cunha et al., 2013) comprises 26 items and six subscales: Self-Kindness; Self-
Judgment; Common Humanity; Isolation; Mindfulness; Over-Identification.
Respondents were instructed with the sentence “how I typically act towards myself in
difficult times” and were asked to answer each item according to a 5-point scale (1=
Almost Never; 5= Almost Always). Subscale scores are computed by calculating the
mean of subscale item responses. To compute the total score of SCS, the Self-Kindness,
Common Humanity, and Mindfulness are summed with reverse scores of the Self-
judgment, Isolation, and Over-identification subscales. Higher scores indicate greater
self-compassion. In the original version, the total score showed an excellent internal
consistency (α = .92) and the six subscales revealed adequate coefficients of internal
consistency, ranging between .75 and .81.
Early Memories of Warmth and Safeness Scale (EMWSS; Richter, Gilbert,
& McEwan, 2009; Portuguese version for adolescents: Cunha, Xavier, Martinho, &
Matos, 2014) measures recall of feeling warm, safe and cared for in childhood (e.g., “I
felt that I was a cherished member of my family.”). This is a 21-item scale rated on a 5-
point scale (0 = No, never; 4 = Yes, most of the time). Richter and colleagues (2009)
found a high Cronbach’s alpha of .97. The Portuguese version for adolescents also
Running head: Self-compassion in adolescence
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revealed an excellent internal reliability (α = .95). In the current study, EMWSS
Cronbach’s alpha was .95.
Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS-21; Lovibond & Lovibond,
1995; Portuguese version: Pais-Ribeiro, Honrado, & Leal, 2004) depression, anxiety
and stress symptoms. The 21-items indicate negative emotional symptoms rated on a 4-
point scale (0-3). Lovibond and Lovibond (1995) found high internal consistency (α =
.91 for depression, α = .84 for anxiety and α = .90 for stress). In the Portuguese version,
the internal consistency was good (α = .85, .74 and .81, respectively). In the present
study, the Cronbach’s alpha for subscales were .88, .83 and .86 respectively.
2.3. Procedures
This adolescents’ sample was collected from public schools in the north and
centre regions of Portugal. Ethical approvals were obtained by the Portuguese Ministry
of Education and the National Commission for Data Protection. The head teacher of the
school and parents were informed about the goals of the research and gave their written
consent. Adolescents assented to participate and were informed about the purpose of the
study and aspects of confidentiality. They voluntarily participated and filled out the
instruments in the classroom. The teacher and research assistant were present to provide
clarification if necessary and to ensure confidential and independent responding.
2.4. Data Analysis
Statistical software IBM SPSS (v.20) and AMOS (v. 18) was used. Descriptive
statistics, independent sample t tests, Cohen’s d and the effect size correlation were
calculated. Pearson correlations were computed to assess the convergent and divergent
validities.
Running head: Self-compassion in adolescence
A CFA using a maximum likelihood estimator (ML) was performed for factor
validity and model invariance across gender. The chi-square and simultaneously the
following goodness-of-fit indices were analysed: GFI, CFI, TLI ≥ .90, acceptable, ≥ .95,
good; RMSEA ≤ .06, good, ≤ .08, acceptable. The improvement of model fit was based
on Modification Indexes (MI > 11; p ≤ .001) by adding sequentially correlational
measurement errors for the residuals with higher MI values. The best fitting model as
determined by chi-square difference test and comparison indices, such as AIC and
ECVI, with smaller values indicating superior models and more stable model for
population under study (Kline, 2005).
Regarding local adjustment of the model, all standardized factor loadings should
be significant (p < .05) and equal or greater than .50. The average variance extracted
(AVE) was analysed to assess the discriminant validity of the measure (Hair, Anderson,
