Self-compassion as a mediator of the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and psychotic symptoms in clinical and non-clinical groups
Self-compassion as a mediator of the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and psychotic symptoms in clinical and non-clinical groups
Background: previous research has shown a link between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and more severe symptoms of psychosis. There is also evidence that self-compassion is a key mechanism linking adverse childhood experiences and mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, but no research has examined these links in psychosis.
Methods: we analysed existing cross-sectional data, including 55 individuals with psychosis and 166 individuals from the general population. Participants completed standardized measures of CSA, self-compassion, paranoia, positive psychotic symptoms and distress linked to psychosis.
Results: the clinical group had higher scores on CSA and all psychosis measures, but we found no differences in self-compassion between the groups. Higher levels of CSA correlated with lower self-compassion and higher paranoia and positive symptoms in both groups. CSA also correlated with distress linked to psychosis in the non-clinical group. Lower self-compassion mediated the association between higher levels of CSA and more severe paranoia in both groups. In the non-clinical group, lower self-compassion also mediated the association between greater CSA and more positive psychotic symptoms and more severe distress.
Conclusions: this is the first study to show that self-compassion mediates the link between CSA and both paranoia and psychotic symptoms in adulthood. Self-compassion may therefore be an important transdiagnostic candidate target in therapy to mitigate the impact of early adversity on paranoia in both clinical and non-clinical groups. Limitations include the small clinical sample and inclusion of a cannabis-using non-clinical sample, though recent cannabis use did not impact self-compassion levels.
childhood sexual abuse, compassion, paranoia, psychosis, schizophrenia, self-compassion, trauma
689-697
Richardson, Thomas
f8d84122-b061-4322-a594-5ef2eb5cad0d
Sood, Monica
185fb97e-a111-45e1-bbe8-d865d301ef9f
Bayliss, Paul
aad342dd-6646-43ed-9560-d2e9861132ca
Newman-Taylor, Katherine
e090b9da-6ede-45d5-8a56-2e86c2dafef7
29 June 2023
Richardson, Thomas
f8d84122-b061-4322-a594-5ef2eb5cad0d
Sood, Monica
185fb97e-a111-45e1-bbe8-d865d301ef9f
Bayliss, Paul
aad342dd-6646-43ed-9560-d2e9861132ca
Newman-Taylor, Katherine
e090b9da-6ede-45d5-8a56-2e86c2dafef7
Richardson, Thomas, Sood, Monica, Bayliss, Paul and Newman-Taylor, Katherine
(2023)
Self-compassion as a mediator of the relationship between childhood sexual abuse and psychotic symptoms in clinical and non-clinical groups.
British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 62 (3), .
(doi:10.1111/bjc.12429).
Abstract
Background: previous research has shown a link between childhood sexual abuse (CSA) and more severe symptoms of psychosis. There is also evidence that self-compassion is a key mechanism linking adverse childhood experiences and mental health problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, but no research has examined these links in psychosis.
Methods: we analysed existing cross-sectional data, including 55 individuals with psychosis and 166 individuals from the general population. Participants completed standardized measures of CSA, self-compassion, paranoia, positive psychotic symptoms and distress linked to psychosis.
Results: the clinical group had higher scores on CSA and all psychosis measures, but we found no differences in self-compassion between the groups. Higher levels of CSA correlated with lower self-compassion and higher paranoia and positive symptoms in both groups. CSA also correlated with distress linked to psychosis in the non-clinical group. Lower self-compassion mediated the association between higher levels of CSA and more severe paranoia in both groups. In the non-clinical group, lower self-compassion also mediated the association between greater CSA and more positive psychotic symptoms and more severe distress.
Conclusions: this is the first study to show that self-compassion mediates the link between CSA and both paranoia and psychotic symptoms in adulthood. Self-compassion may therefore be an important transdiagnostic candidate target in therapy to mitigate the impact of early adversity on paranoia in both clinical and non-clinical groups. Limitations include the small clinical sample and inclusion of a cannabis-using non-clinical sample, though recent cannabis use did not impact self-compassion levels.
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British J Clinic Psychol - 2023 - Richardson - Self‐compassion as a mediator of the relationship between childhood sexual
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Accepted/In Press date: 23 May 2023
Published date: 29 June 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
Data collection was partly funded via NIHR Research Capability Funding via Solent NHS Trust.
Keywords:
childhood sexual abuse, compassion, paranoia, psychosis, schizophrenia, self-compassion, trauma
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 478986
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/478986
ISSN: 0144-6657
PURE UUID: 81ac6e9d-fc96-4b1d-8b03-62ba5575b8b2
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Date deposited: 17 Jul 2023 16:39
Last modified: 27 Apr 2024 02:22
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Author:
Monica Sood
Author:
Paul Bayliss
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