Self-referent upward counterfactual thinking mediates the relationship between self-compassion and depression

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective: Consistently strong negative associations have been found between self-compassion and depressive symptoms, but less is known about mechanisms that underlie this relationship. This study investigated whether four types of counterfactual thinking (self-referent upward, nonreferent upward, other-referent upward and nonreferent downward) mediate this association. Method: One hundred and sixty-seven Australian tertiary students (76.0% female) aged between 18 and 73 years (M = 33.63, SD = 10.76) completed an online survey. Results: Self-compassion exhibited significant negative bivariate relationships with self-referent, nonreferent, and other-referent upward counterfactual thinking, and a positive association with nonreferent downward counterfactual thinking. A multiple-mediation analysis revealed one significant indirect effect, in which highly self-compassionate participants reported lower levels of self-referent upward counterfactual thinking and, in turn, reported lower levels of depression. Conclusions: These findings indicate that self-compassion is associated with adaptive forms of counterfactual thinking, and that one way in which self-compassion conveys its beneficial influence on depression may be through its relationship with fewer self-referent upward counterfactual thoughts. This indirect effect suggests that self-compassion interventions may be especially beneficial to depression-vulnerable individuals who tend to generate self-referent upward counterfactuals. Key Points What is already known about this topic: (1)Consistently strong negative associations have been found between self-compassion and depressive symptoms. (2)Less is known about mechanisms that underlie this relationship. (3)Identified mediators include emotion regulation tendencies, positive future outlook, and cognitive processes such as automatic and repetitive thinking. What this topic adds: (1)This study found that self-referent upward counterfactual thinking tendencies also mediate this association. (2)High levels of self-compassion were associated with adaptive counterfactual thinking (low levels of nonreferent, self-referent, and other-referent upward and high levels of downward). (3)These findings suggest that self-compassion interventions may be especially beneficial to depression-vulnerable individuals who tend to generate self-referent upward counterfactuals.