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

Abstract

<p><b>Objective:</b> 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.</p><p> <b>Method:</b> One hundred and sixty-seven Australian tertiary students (76.0% female) aged between 18 and 73 years (<I>M</I> = 33.63, <I>SD</I> = 10.76) completed an online survey.</p><p> <b>Results:</b> 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.</p><p> <b>Conclusions:</b> 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.</p>