The influence of self-compassion on perceived responsibility and shame following acquired brain injury

Abstract

Primary objectiveThe purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of perceived personal responsibility for an acquired ABI (ABI) on shame, and whether self-compassion moderates this relationship. We hypothesised that people who perceived themselves to be responsible for their injury would have high levels of shame and poorer recovery outcomes. Research designA mixed-methods design was employed using both standardised measures and a series of open questions. 1Methods and procedures 66 participants with ABI were included in the analysis. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics, correlations, multiple regression and thematic analysis. Main outcomes and resultsSignificant relationships were found between self-compassion, shame, anxiety and depression, but perceived responsibility for ABI was not correlated with any examined variables. Due to issues with the measurement of responsibility, it was not possible to complete all proposed forms of analysis. The thematic analysis revealed the ways participants' injuries affected their perceived level of functioning, its consequences for sense of self, shame and self-compassion. ConclusionsThis study concluded that people with ABI might experience shame with respect to the injury's impact on functioning. Study limitations and implications for providing therapeutic interventions such as Compassion Focused Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy are discussed.

The Effect of Self-Compassion on Psychosocial and Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Medical Conditions: A Systematic Review

“…Four of these studies looked specifically at self-compassion scores in relation to the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) scores, which found that increased SCS scores were associated with decreased levels of PHQ-9 scores [21,22,26,33]. Moreover, two studies looked at selfcompassion in relation to the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire and demonstrated similar results [16,18]. Five studies looked at the correlation between self-compassion and anxiety, two of which were previously discussed using the HADS questionnaire.…”

“…Eight articles were further excluded, for reasons shown in the Appendix section ( Figure 1). Finally, 19 articles (n=2,713 patients, of which 73.3% were females) met our eligibility criteria and were included in this systematic review [15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33]. The baseline characteristics of the included studies are comprehensively described in Table 1.…”

“…The range for the self-compassion values was between 2.8-3.46. Three studies looked at specific subscales with the SCS [16,18,30]. A study by Ambridge, Fleming, and Henshall looked at the Self-Compassion Scale-Short-Form (SCS-SF), which was 5.69 ± 1.15 [16].…”

“…All included studies evaluated the correlation of self-compassion with other important psychosocial outcomes such as depression, anxiety, stress, resilience, shame, quality of life, and other outcomes as shown in Table 2. Nine studies evaluated the correlation between self-compassion and depression [16,18,[20][21][22][23]26,29,33]. All studies found that a higher self-compassion was correlated with lower levels of depression in individuals with a medical illness.…”

“…Two studies looked at the relationship between self-compassion and shame [16,30]. One study showed that as self-compassion levels increased, shame decreased, while the other study showed no correlation between self-compassion and shame.…”