Systematic review of self compassion and stress in parents, and an exploration of emotion regulation and psychopathology in adolescence

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Self compassion is considered an adaptive coping strategy in the face of stress and is thought to be an important factor in parent functioning. Self compassion can also be understood within an emotion regulation framework. High levels of self compassion and effective emotion regulation have been shown to be associated with lower levels of psychopathology. The adolescent stage is thought to be an important period in the development of emotion regulation and how this relates to psychopathology.

METHOD: Chapter 1 is a systematic review and meta analysis of the association between self compassion and parenting stress. Chapter 3 explored the relationship between emotion regulation and psychopathology in adolescence using a cross sectional design.

RESULTS: Chapter 1 demonstrated a medium effect size for the association between self compassion and stress in parents, with high levels of self compassion being related to lower levels of stress. Chapter 3 demonstrated that in an adolescent population, dysfunctional emotion regulation is related to symptoms of anxiety and depression, and that age did not appear to moderate this relationship.

CONCLUSIONS: This project explored ways of regulating emotions in parent and adolescent populations. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that emotion regulation and self compassion are important concepts in relation to understanding how individuals cope with stress and how this impacts their psychological wellbeing.