The relationship of dispositional compassion for others with depressive symptoms over a 15-year prospective follow-up

Abstract

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate (i) the direction of the relationships between dispositional compassion for others and depressive symptoms over a 15-year follow-up in adulthood and (ii) the longitudinal associations of dispositional compassion with total depressive symptoms and various depressive subsymptoms (i.e. negative attitude, performance difficulties, and somatic complaints) from early adulthood to middle age. Methods: The participants (N=1676) came from the prospective Young Finns Study. Dispositional compassion was assessed with the Temperament and Character Inventory and depressive symptoms with a modified version of the Beck Depression Inventory. The measurements were conducted between 1997−2012 including three measurement points. The data was analyzed using structural equation models and multilevel models for longitudinal design. Results: The predictive relationships were more likely to proceed from high dispositional compassion for others to lower depressive symptoms than in the opposite direction. Additionally, high dispositional compassion predicted a lower total score of depressive symptoms and also lower scores of various depressive subsymptoms (negative attitude, performance difficulties, somatic complaints) in early adulthood. These associations, however, weakened over years and became non-significant in middle age. All the findings were sustained after controlling for age, gender, and socioeconomic factors in childhood and adulthood. Limitations: Depressive symptoms were mostly mild and non-clinical in our sample. The findings cannot be directly generalized to severe depressive symptomatology. Conclusions: When tailoring psychiatric interventions, it is necessary to be aware that compassion for others may lower the risk for the onset and maintenance of depressive symptoms, especially in early adulthood.

Reduced Social Connectedness and Compassion Toward Close Others in Patients With Chronic Depression Compared to a Non-clinical Sample

“…On the one hand, patients with chronic depression also reported significantly reduced compassion to close others. This result is consistent with findings of reduced dispositional compassion (20) and reduced empathy -as an integral part of compassion -in depression (12). On the other hand, and contrary to our expectations, compassion was not impaired toward strangers or other humans in general.…”

“…Although previous research demonstrated that selfcompassion is reduced in depression, research on the role of compassion toward others in depression is sparse. A recent longitudinal study on the relationship between dispositional compassion and depressive symptoms found that among adolescents and young adults, high levels of dispositional compassion predicted lower depression, whereas conversely, depression was not likely to influence compassion (20). However, depressive symptoms were only mild and non-clinical in the sample studied.…”

The relationship of socioeconomic status in childhood and adulthood with compassion: A study with a prospective 32-year follow-up

“…Confirmatory factor analysis showed that construct validity of the compassion scale was excellent [30]. Additionally, the internal consistency of the scale was found to be high (Cronbach's α = .86-.88 in 1997-2012).…”

Risky emotional family environment in childhood and depression‐related cytokines in adulthood: The protective role of compassion

“…It is a separate concept from self‐compassion (i.e., compassionate attitude toward the suffering of the self; Barnard & Curry, 2011) and compassion from others (i.e., compassionate expressions received from others for the suffering of the self; Gilbert, 2019). Compassion for others predicts lower depression (Saarinen, Keltikangas‐Järvinen, Cloninger, et al., 2019) and, previously, intervention studies have demonstrated that compassion‐training interventions are linked to decreased concentrations of CRP and decreased responses of IL‐6, cortisol, and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) to psychosocial stress (Abelson et al., 2014; Pace et al., 2009). Finally, compassionate states correlate with the activity of hypothalamus (Immordino‐Yang et al., 2009) that is involved in the regulation of inflammatory responses (Black, 2002).…”