Protective Effect of Self-Compassion to Emotional Response among Students with Chronic Academic Stress

“This method can provide confidence limits for the specific indirect effect, as well as include multiple mediators in the same model (Preacher and Hayes, 2008).”

“PANAS is a 20-item scale with 10 emotion words that assess the positive affect and another 10 words that assess the negative affect.”

“Previous studies indicated significant gender differences of self-compassion between males and females (Neff, 2003b).”

“…and Frontiers in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 4 November 2016 | Volume 7 | Article 1802 emotions into substantially positive state, as well as further adopt actions to change themselves or the external environment in the appropriate and effective manner (Carver and Connor-Smith, 2010).”

“Brief self-compassion induction programs have been developed based on the preceding findings to modify the participants’ self-relevant thoughts, emotions, and behaviors (Adams and Leary, 2007; Leary et al., 2007).”

“…role of selfcompassion to buffer chronic academic stress and its influence on emotional response (Leary et al., 2007; Neff et al., 2007a,b; Neff and Vonk, 2009), thereby further indicating that selfcompassion-centered interventions can be developed to assist students in coping with…”

“Neff et al. (2005) determined among undergraduates who perceived their recent midterm grade as a failure that self-compassion was positively associated with mastery and perceived competence but negatively associated with performance avoidance.”

“Allen and Leary (2010) proposed that the essential of self-compassion is to treat yourself kindly when facing adversities.”

“Existing studies have shown that self-compassion buffer both acute stress induced in laboratory settings (Pace et al., 2009; Bluth et al., 2015) and chronic life stress, such as childhood maltreatment and academic stress (Ying and Han, 2009; Vettese et al., 2011).”

“In general, stress is associated with decreased well-being, increased negative affect, and various affective disorders, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (Habra et al., 2003; Hoffman and Al’Absi, 2004; Marin et al., 2011; Cheng et al., 2014).”

“For example, mindfulness-based stress reduction programs have been determined to enhance self-compassion (Birnie et al., 2010).”

“Studies have also indicated that people with a few positive qualities can live through traumatic events, manage them well, and stay healthy (Carver and Antoni, 2004; Duan and Guo, 2015; Duan et al., 2015a).”

“The results indicated that the eaters who were given the self-compassion induction showed limited distress and ate less (Adams and Leary, 2007).”

“Self-compassion exerted direct and indirect effects on stress in two female chronic illness groups, namely, inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis (Sirois et al., 2015).”

“In general, stress is associated with decreased well-being, increased negative affect, and various affective disorders, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (Habra et al., 2003; Hoffman and Al’Absi, 2004; Marin et al., 2011; Cheng et al., 2014).”

“Existing studies have shown that self-compassion buffer both acute stress induced in laboratory settings (Pace et al., 2009; Bluth et al., 2015) and chronic life stress, such as childhood maltreatment and academic stress (Ying and Han, 2009; Vettese et al., 2011).”

“For example, individuals with considerably high self-compassion showed substantially low autonomic response and anxiety when they were exposed to acute psychosocial threat (Neff et al., 2007a; Breines et al., 2014).”

“One study also determined that self-compassion was negatively associated with homesickness and depression in students who transited to college (Terry et al., 2013), thereby further reporting that self-compassion could reduce the influence of low satisfaction with social life on homesickness.”

“Other studies reported that selfcompassion buffered the influence of academic stress (e.g., limited goal progress, academic burnout) on negative affect and depression in undergraduates (Kyeong, 2013; Hope, 2014).”

“…in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 1 November 2016 | Volume 7 | Article 1802 demonstrated that individuals with positive qualities, such as caring, inquisitiveness, and self-control, often perceived limited stress and showed an improved mental well-being (Duan et al., 2015b; Duan, 2016b).”

“Existing studies have shown that self-compassion buffer both acute stress induced in laboratory settings (Pace et al., 2009; Bluth et al., 2015) and chronic life stress, such as childhood maltreatment and academic stress (Ying and Han, 2009; Vettese et al.”

“Other studies reported that selfcompassion buffered the influence of academic stress (e.g., limited goal progress, academic burnout) on negative affect and depression in undergraduates (Kyeong, 2013; Hope, 2014).”

“In general, stress is associated with decreased well-being, increased negative affect, and various affective disorders, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (Habra et al., 2003; Hoffman and Al’Absi, 2004; Marin et al., 2011; Cheng et al., 2014).”

“…in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 1 November 2016 | Volume 7 | Article 1802 demonstrated that individuals with positive qualities, such as caring, inquisitiveness, and self-control, often perceived limited stress and showed an improved mental well-being (Duan et al., 2015b; Duan, 2016b).”

“…in Psychology | www.frontiersin.org 1 November 2016 | Volume 7 | Article 1802 demonstrated that individuals with positive qualities, such as caring, inquisitiveness, and self-control, often perceived limited stress and showed an improved mental well-being (Duan et al., 2015b; Duan, 2016b).”

“, 2016) and thriving (Duan et al., 2016) need to be adopted in future studies to explore the emotion-buffer effects of self-compassion.”

“The participants recruited in these studies were often undergraduate freshmen or master’s students (Ying and Han, 2009; Terry et al., 2013; Hope, 2014).”

“Studies have also indicated that people with a few positive qualities can live through traumatic events, manage them well, and stay healthy (Carver and Antoni, 2004; Duan and Guo, 2015; Duan et al., 2015a).”

“2016) has been shown to be buffered by selfcompassion, as has the relationship between chronic academic stress and negative affect (Zhang et al. 2016).”

“This was expected with previous research fi ndings from Ne ff et al. (2005) and Zhang et al. (2016) noting self-compassion to be a mediating variable that can decrease the negative a ff ect of academic stress on wellbeing.”

“For example, the Unified National Graduate Entrance Examination in China (UNGEE) is an important opportunity for undergraduates to apply for their postgraduate studies and master’s degrees but has a reputation for cutthroat competition (3, 4).”

“Academic pressure may have an important impact on teenagers’ physical and mental health, family relations, and happiness, which has been confirmed by many studies (Sun et al., 2011; Zhang et al., 2016).”

“…mediated the relationship between positive mental constructs and mental wellbeing (Beaumont et al. 2016; Fong and Loi 2016; Neff andMcgehee 2010; Zhang et al. 2016), suggesting that self-compassion would be a mediator of the relationship between resilience and mental wellbeing (Trompetter et…”

“In general, literature has shown that selfcompassion is positively associated with emotional well-being (Neff et al. 2007b; Zessin et al. 2015), while negatively associated with the experience of life stress and negative affect (Diedrich et al. 2014; Ying and Han 2009; Zhang et al. 2016).”

“In the study of Zhang et al. (2016), it was found out that self-compassion has a buffering effect on academic stress and its emotional response.”

“Other studies focus on identifying the protective factors of this phenomenon, such as self-compassion [13] and social support [14].”

“Self-compassion is described as an emotion regulation strategy, which is associated with lower negative a ff ect and higher positive a ff ect during di ffi cult situations (Ne ff , 2003; Zhang et al., 2016).”

“This mediation effect is in line with previous findings that showed that self-compassion mediated the relationships between chronic academic stress and negative affect (Zhang et al., 2016), and stress and depression (Fong & Loi, 2016).”

“Self-compassion is associated with adaptive psychological outcomes in people experiencing both acute [25-27] and chronic stress [28,29].”

“These results were consistent with previous reports based on Mainland Chinese youth (Chen et al., 2016; Zhang et al., 2016).”

“A large number of studies have established the protective influence of self-compassion on psychosocial distress, including social anxiety [2, 3], burnout [4], and trauma [5].”

“This protective function applies even when students experience chronic aca - demic stress (Zhang et al., 2016) and feel burnt out due to academic demands (Lee & Lee, 2020).”

“…offer an ideal setting to reach emerging adults who may bene fi t from self-compassion skills, particularly to bolster coping during the transition to college (Kroshus et al., 2021) and mitigate the effects of trauma exposure (Shebuski et al., 2020) and chronic academic stress (Zhang et al., 2016).”

“Self-compassion in undergraduate students is also a protective factor against chronic academic stress (Zhang et al., 2016), since this causes undergraduate students to perceive academic demands as opportunities for selfdevelopment, and to remain treating themselves well, even under academic…”

“Self-compassion is considered a protective factor against academic stress [39,95], homesickness, depression, and problems in the transition to college [96,97].”

“Results of a study by Zhang et al. (2016) with 208 participants also indicated that there could be a different role for distinct facets of self-compassion, as their analysis showed that positive aspects of self-compassion did not correlate significantly, or only weakly, with learning stress and…”

“Zhang et al. (2016) found UG students possessing better self-compassion.”

“At the same time, quite a few researchers suggest that the imaginary reduction of stress in the case of defensive coping allows the individual to focus and mobilize their efforts to overcome crises, including those provoked by war [7, 8, 14, 16, 21-23].”

“Previous research showed its positive buffering effects when experiencing acute (Arch et al., 2014; Pace et al., 2009) as well as chronic stress (Zhang et al., 2016; Neff et al., 2007).”

“Los resultados estarían en consonancia con otros que, en condiciones más extremas, encuentran que la ACP amortigua el impacto negativo que tiene el estrés académico crónico en la salud emocional de estudiantes universitarios (Zhang et al., 2016).”

“…in trait self-compassion appear to be less vulnerable to distress associated with thwarted goal progress (Hope et al., 2014), and it has been found to buffer individuals from the emotional consequences (i.e. depression and anxiety) of perceived stress (Lathren et al., 2019; Zhang et al., 2016).”

“However, when individuals possess positive qualities within themselves, they tend to be more capable of overcoming stress and adverse events, managing stress effectively, maintaining health, and demonstrating improved mental well-being (Duan, 2016; Duan et al., 2015; Zhang et al., 2016).”

“For example, higher levels of self-compassion were associated with lower levels of negative affect during stressful academic circumstances (Zhang et al., 2016), lower levels of anxiety during social stressors in a laboratory setting (Neff et al., 2007), and faster sleep onset after experiencing…”

“…following the exercise is noteworthy; however, the correlational analysis supports the notion that higher self-compassion is associated with lower stress and anxiety, consistent with behavioral models positing that self-compassion facilitates adaptive coping in various mental disorders (5, 47, 48).”

“Furthermore, Zhang et al. (2016) found that self-compassion can reduce the adverse effects of academic stress on emotional well-being.”

“Within this framework, self-compassion may function as a psychological resource that encourages more adaptive self-evaluation and reduces excessive self-criticism when students encounter academic setbacks (39, 77).”