Self-Compassion as a Compensatory Resilience Factor for the Negative Emotional Outcomes of Alcohol- Involved Sexual Assault among Undergraduates

Abstract

Objectives: Approximately half of sexual assaults involve alcohol; these assaults tend to be more severe and may be more likely to result in negative emotional outcomes like anxiety and depression (Ullman & Najdowski, 2010). Self-compassion (SC; extending kindness and care towards oneself) may promote resilience from the negative emotional consequences of alcohol-involved sexual assault (AISA). This study examined SC as a resilience factor, testing whether it attenuates and/or counteracts the association between AISA and negative emotional outcomes. Methods: Undergraduate drinkers (N = 785) completed measures tapping past-term AISA (Kehayes, et al., 2019), SC (i.e., Self-Compassion Scale; Neff, 2003), and anxiety and depression (Kessler et al., 2002). The Self-Compassion Scale was scored as two higherorder domains (self-caring, self-criticism) each with three lower-order facets (self-kindness, mindfulness, and common humanity; over-identification, self-judgment, and isolation). Results: Supporting compensatory effects, the higher-order SC domains showed main effects: the presence of self-caring and relative absence of self-criticism counteracted the adverse effects of AISA on both anxiety and depression. Similarly, the lower-order SC facets showed main effects: the presence of self-kindness and relative absence of overidentification counteracted the adverse effects of AISA on anxiety/depression – with therelative absence of self-judgment and isolation additionally counteracting the effect of AISA on depression. Conclusion: SC works as a compensatory resilience factor for the association between AISA and anxiety/depression. Implications: SC interventions with attention towards increasing self-kindness and decreasing negative facets of SC may be important for negative emotional outcomes in general, including those following AISA.