Self-Compassion, Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors, and Psychological Well-Being in Women

Abstract

Despite pressures on women to make healthy lifestyle choices and a bevy of constantly changing fitness trends and gadgets, national trends related to women’s health reflect a decline in wellness and serious health disparities based on race and socioeconomic status. Therefore, factors underlying women’s success in adopting and maintaining healthy lifestyle behaviors continue to be an essential area for research in health promotion. Previous studies have preliminarily explored the role of self-compassion in women’s health with regard to exercise and eating although less is known about how these factors contribute to overall psychological well-being. In this study, we investigated the relationships between self-compassion, engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors, and overall psychological well-being among a sample of 340 adults from diverse backgrounds. Results supported the hypothesis that more self-compassionate women engage more frequently in healthy lifestyle behaviors and experience greater psychological well-being. Engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors partially mediated the relationship between self-compassion and psychological well-being, such that engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors explained a significant amount of variance in psychological well-being over and above self-compassion. Participants of underrepresented ethnic and racial groups reported higher levels of self-compassion, and higher socioeconomic status participants reported greater engagement in healthy lifestyle behaviors.